Kurohyou Keikan
by kiki83
Summary: Swing that pendulum waay back & what do u get? The origins of a centuries-old trio Yoruichi, Urahara & Tessai. Just how did they meet & what started them on their journey 2 the Shinigami Academy. Rated T 2 b safe. Hiatus :(
1. Dead Don't Dream? OhHo I Beg to Differ!

Disclaimer: Don't own Bleach or any of the characters, I just lock myself in my room and make them bend to my muse's will.

A/N: If I can stick 2 it I plan on making this my own universe filled w/several FF eventually most of them of the lemon variety. Sorry if n-e-1 finds my ideas on the earlier powers of the characters stupid, I had a dream I was a kitten, & this was what came from it. LoL.

A/N #2: _Also any of the character's thoughts will be italicized like this. __Also things in Japanese including some sword names and whatnot._ & 4 those of u that aren't fluent in Japanese here R some of the words that u might run across in this FF that u won't find in the usual Bleach universe. _Koneko_ - Kitten, _haori_ - outer hip or thigh length kimono jacket, _Ikkene - _Oh shit/It's not good/I messed up.

* * *

Dead Don't Dream? Oh-Ho! I Beg To Differ!

"Dead don't dream."

The words crashed down like a flash flood over the dirty boy and his usually abundant curiosity sparked to hear it echoing behind him down the cliff face. He had an almost uncontrollable urge to listen to it rebound down into the chasm to be absorbed by the rushing river below, to turn and give it his attentative green eyes.

Curiosity killed the cat; he'd heard from plenty of different people. Today was the perfect example. _Don't look, you're smarter than that baka,_ he told himself as he cradled the decent sized hunk of bread behind his back, even if he'd grown so thin it was meager cover at best.

The very angry, very large man threatening Curiosity for her place as his executioner only stepped closer.

He'd tried the tactic only a handful of times on people living in small villages, dozens of times before while on the fringes of part of Northern _Rukongai_. Plenty of the ignorant farmers had looked at him with awe as he spoke their names without meeting them and explained a dream he'd had about them that had told him everything about them, mostly how kindly they shared their bountiful larders.

The angry man hadn't even let him get to the part where he told his dream. Obviously the large man was neither kind nor in the mind of sharing his food as the dream he usually depicted falsely claimed. The guy didn't seem to know that prophets had dreams, even when they were dead, the farmers had understood. It had been how they had first thought up the idea to cheat people out of food they didn't need nearly as much fthey did; the rarity of dreams. He knew he wasn't a prophet but he had been gifted with dreams while it seemed the majority of the Soul Society weren't.

"Maybe **you** don't," He replied cheekily as the cliff grabbed his voice and threw the words back and forth. He only used the scam to get food, and it wasn't ever really dreams, but what made up his target's very existence that told him what their names were and that was usually enough personal information to fool the farmers. He paused to listen once more and grinned despite himself as he calculated how far down the water was.

"Dead don't dream," He repeated as he closed in on the punk that had stolen the snack **he'd** stolen fair and square. "Dead can die though, did ja know that?"

"That hardly seems fair," He wondered how deep the water was here; too bad he hadn't thought about an escape route. He'd be lucky if Tessai was still on his trail, he had tried so hard to lose his violent pursuer in the cramped city alleys and streets. "You don't need this," He murmured about the bread he'd stolen.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" He lurched forward and the blond boy leapt back, his bare toes just barely grabbing the edge of the cliff. "Ain't nothin' but rocks and falls below ya. Might be more merciful," He reached for the boy and as he dodged his grip the boy lost his balance and threw his arms out to catch it. The bread that would have fed him and Tessai flying down into the deathtrap below.

"My friend needs food and you look nothing like him," He said truthfully. The man probably wouldn't understand with no explaination how he was talking about the outside but the inside. "He **is** bigger than me; you do have that in common...big meaty fists too..."

"Come here-"

Both of them looked up as an unfamiliar voice crackled with authority, "Fifth seat shouldn't you be slumming in a _Seireitei_ bar? Yet where do I find you?"

The man turned to find there was no one behind him and turned back before the boy could try and run. Sadly instead taking advantage of the opportunity and running he had been frozen, his eyes searching for the young man that belonged to the voice of his rescuer.

"Damn you're slow kid," The voice came again and although the bully had turned his attention back to him, the boy's eyes finally connected with those words, not on a man but the large yellow eyes of a small black kitten. In a flash the cat was curling between the supposed fifth seat's legs before he could react, sending him on his ass.

The boy shook his dirty blond head, the tiny creature had moved so fast he almost couldn't track him. His eyes missed the first few feet of the _shunpo_ but tracked it like he tracked Tessai-the pressure of whatever made the kitten **more**. The cat looked like Tessai...The way the large man didn't. The quickness of the cat's attack proved it was even **more** than his friend.

In a split second the tiny kitten had created another opening for him to escape, effortlessly. He was stuttering at the cat as it paused at his feet, "W-who are you?"

Just as fast as the kitten had moved, the fallen fifth seat was back on his feet and reaching for the scruff of its neck. The startled boy was surprise to see a flash of the eerie glow; the same that he found in Tessai, an energy that was so rich inside his friend that it spilled out of the skin invisibly to everyone else. There'd been absolutely no hint of it before the cat had arrived and knocked the _shinigami_ down. If it could be hidden so well from his strange heightened sight, it wasn't in the blood as he had always suspected.

He was able to catch a glimpse of the cat disappearing, only to land on the fifth seat's back before the bastard's momentum sent him into the boy, pushing him over the cliff. He had a few moments to curse his curiosity before he felt a prickling pressure rush into fill the air around him.

"Tessai-san," He grinned and dropped slowly to the largest rock in the rushing water. Across on a taller but smaller rock sat his best friend, Tessai, his face in a grimace of concentration until the pressure left him, then it relaxed. "Kick ass!"

A smirk of satisfaction crossed the older boy's face as he opened one eye to look. "Aw, you dropped the bread Kisuke-kun!"

"I know, I did the math without knowing you were down here," Kisuke held his hand out for help across the rushing water.

Tessai looked as if even that was too much activity, he still hadn't stood. He glared at Kisuke. "I did that hoping you'd pull something off."

Kisuke took a small step back and jumped almost effortlessly to the cramped rock. "Can you get up?"

"Sure," Tessai eyed the small space on the rock they perched on. "Could you get off the rock first?"

Gazing around a moment Kisuke sensed the path Tessai had unintentionally left behind on the stones, even in the air over the water between the stones. He jumped to a stone that had looked suicidally small but it was easy to balance on and he turned and stepped backwards onto the small shelf of rough rock that served as a shore only about a foot and a half wide and only temporary harbor as it was sandwiched between the rushing water and cliff face. He turned back and winked at his friend as he scrambled nimbly across the rocks.

"Show off," Tessai muttered and couldn't help but grin at his friend. He pointed to another string of stones further upstream meandering back across to the opposite shore that was sandy with a less severe incline upward. "That's the way up."

"The bread will have gone downstream," Kisuke stuck his tongue out displeased and for more than one reason. _I'll lose the chance to catch sight of that strange cat!_ "Can you make it up?" He asked concerned as he saw the slope of the bank he indicated.

"I can still walk, I'm not starving yet," Tessai snapped and Kisuke knew he was indeed hungry, he never snapped at the younger boy.

"Have you seen any talking cats?" Kisuke blurted out, as was his fashion. Tessai was used to odd statements and questions, finding most unanswerable despite being a few years older with several more decades of growing up in _Rukongai_.

The scrappy kid had shown up, swimming out of the lake on the outskirts of the city. Tessai had been trying to catch fish when he'd broken the surface and looked around confused and—as was normal he later found—bright with curiosity. The first question was easy but hard to explain to one so young, _"Where am I?"_

Kisuke seemed to know exactly where to step quickly even without having dangered the journey, concentrating on making it from stone-to-stone Tessai answered, "No talking cats. How are you doing that so fast?"

"You left that stuff all over the place," Kisuke shook his head dislodging his hair to cover his eyes. "Don't even need to look!"

Tessai didn't mention the rock right beneath his descending foot, the spindly youth could be agile when he focused.

Too bad he couldn't focus for long.

With a laugh Tessai hurried after as Kisuke landed on the bank firmly on his ass. "What was that about looking?"

"Aw Tessai-san you're the only friend I know that would laugh at my misfortune," Kisuke hung his head to hide his growing smirk.

"I'm your **only** friend."

Kisuke watched the larger boy jump to the bank and walk past him to an upward slope. "Ah you're so harsh!" He scrambled to his feet and hurried after.

They looked over to see the fifth seat was gone, as was the cat. Kisuke frowned especially when he couldn't see where the cat had gone as he would have with Tessai. The two both had the ability to hide what his large friend left like glowy footprints.

_I was sure that bully had no unusual energy in his body,_ Kisuke walked with Tessai along the cliff. As they moved the land leveled out, becoming even with the water.

Dark eyes moving over the current Tessai felt the tremble in his leg muscles. He hadn't gotten much to eat and he found it much harder to do anything. Although he found himself capable of doing things the others around him could not, he found it a hindrance in some ways, one being crippled by hunger.

"Do you think we should keep going? Get outta this district?" Kisuke mused to the dark-haired boy as he let his path splash into the river. "That's no rock!"

He sighed at Kisuke's enthusiastic shout; it would probably be a petrified log. With Kisuke it could be anything. _Like a talking cat,_ Tessai snickered to himself as he thought about the kid's earlier question.

It turned out to be a partially sodden hunk of bread and Kisuke held it aloft triumphantly, dumping the remaining water down on his head unexpectedly. As he sputtered and coughed Tessai laughed and took the food.

"Edible," Tessai gave him a pleased smile which the younger boy returned as a beaming grin of satisfaction at a job well done, pulled from the dredges of catastrophe. "Good job Kisuke-kun, how much do you want?"

Kisuke tried to cover his sudden frown by sinking his fingers into the soggy side of the bread. His curiosity blazing he took a small chunk and went to nibble on it by himself at the water's edge. He'd have given up the bread to see that kitten again, but Tessai…

Pleased with the amount left for him Tessai caught the life-force of something small…His eyes darted to catch the black kitten in mid-movement as it dashed to hide in the leaves of a nearby bush. _Kisuke-kun's talking cat?_

The thin boy brushed his dirty hair aside with water in his fingers. He didn't have what Tessai had, the energy that always soaked his large friend from toe to crown. Up until today Kisuke had thought the blood was mostly responsible since his strange second type of sight was always tinged a gory crimson unless he focused to see it as the flow of colored light instead.

The only thing he had was this ability and a tiny appetite incomparable to Tessai's demands. He was kind of glad, but painfully curious and jealous of the older boy's power.

They couldn't eat their fill if they both had Tessai's stomach. Already he'd inhaled even the moist bread before Kisuke finished his few bites.

"A black kitten tried to save my life…" Kisuke turned to catch Tessai's startled gaze, even as desensitized as he was to the boy's bizarre out of the blue exclamations. As Kisuke turned he was sharp enough to notice the direction of his friend's gaze before gaining his attention with his voice.

Back up the slope they'd traveled was a collection of bushes and a scraggly tree that Kisuke examined quickly before meeting his friend's eyes. There were no berries on any of the plants and no nests in the tree for eggs. Maybe he was looking for the angry former own of the bread? Plausible.

Tessai put his two most recent strange remarks together, "Did it talk?"

"Yes," Kisuke glanced over toward the collection of shrubs again. "Is that normal here?"

"Dead cat's a dead cat, Kisuke-kun," Tessai shrugged and crawled over to drown his face in the cold clear stream gulping greedily. His stomach had gone quiet and he filled the rest up with water as Kisuke finished his portion.

"So no?"

"What I meant was did you meet any talking cats before you came here?"

Frowning Kisuke scratched the back of his head, "I guess not."

They were quiet for a few companionable minutes soaking up the sun and letting the flowing water sounds relax them. Both boys knew they needed to put space between this small village and themselves, maybe find an outlying farm and try again. Tessai was positive they'd get better results where the folk were more superstitious, less jaded. There was no hurry for food, but that large man might be looking for them, and finding them would be bad for them both.

"Wanna walk along the stream?" Tessai murmured into the comfortable silence, they had no real destination so there was no reason to pick one direction over another. The stream's meandering path was as good as any, and it would prove useful when they stopped to rest later.

"I suppose," Kisuke murmured, procrastinating as he thought of sneaking back to where he'd fallen off the cliff to get a closer look. He might have not been close enough to see any clues about the others that had been up there with him. He heard Tessai stand beside him and pretended to be too absorbed in the pattern of clouds in the sky to notice his friend's movement.

"We should go before that villager comes looking for us."

"He won't."

"And how would you know oh wise Kisuke-dono?" Tessai teased.

"The cat called him a fifth seat," Kisuke revealed. "And asked him why he wasn't in the _Seireitei_."

At that word Tessai's eyes widened and his head swiveled to look over his shoulder. They were pretty far away but the huge walls were still visible.

The two of them had ventured close enough to touch it once a few years after Kisuke had arrived, to sate the boy's curiosity for an entire city that he would never see. It had made him go though agony his wonder so intense to see exactly what was on the other side of those walls. Tessai's answer of, "The rich and powerful souls," wasn't enough for the inquisitive Kisuke.

"Kisuke-kun!" Tessai looked back to meet the boy's deep green eyes always rich with wonder even when solemn. "He could have killed you!"

Kisuke waved his hand at him as if his words were silly, "He had a glow like yours, but he hid it."

"From you?" Tessai looked back toward the _Seireitei_ instead of initiating the beginning of their trek away from its shining walls and the more populated districts of Western _Rukongai_. He didn't entirely understand the boy's power to see the difference between most souls and himself, it had been a pleasant surprise to not be shunned by someone because of his odd energy and abilities.

"So did the cat."

Tessai's eyes swung around and confirmed the niggling hypothesis in the back of Kisuke's mind as he glanced back at the bushes and trees he'd been so interested in before. "It did?" Tessai gasped in surprise especially when Kisuke gave a triumphant shout and bounded over toward the trees where the cat hid.

The small collection of birds that hadn't even been aware of the kitten's presence went scattering into the wind as the slight boy landed in the prickly shrubs to flush out the cat. Taken by surprise just as much as the birds the cat shot out of the leaves and straight into a still surprised Tessai's arms. "Don't let it get away Tessai-san!"

Tightening his strong arms around the wriggling furry mass of claws Tessai closed his eyes and held his face away from the slashing natural weapons. The most unexpected thing—in a normal situation—was when the cat began to let loose a filthy string of curses.

"I told you!" Kisuke crowed madly and he laughed as he moved in to help Tessai. With a startled gasp he shielded his eyes as the glow of the kitten hit an intensity Tessai could only achieve with long concentration.

The sudden flash took him unawares and he could have sworn he heard the stray laugh. When he glanced up he had to squint his eyes to watch the cat as he whomped Tessai in the chest with his back legs successfully launching himself forward and out of the boy's clutches and also sending his captor flying back several feet.

Kisuke dove for the cat as it laughed again and like he had escaped the fifth seat's clutches the creature disappeared in a flash and reappeared a few feet further away. Kisuke had thought the animal had done this vanishing/reappearing trick earlier but he had also thought his mind was playing tricks on him, after hearing the kitten talk. Seeing the trick again made his curiosity burn even more, it was obvious that he should take chase if he was going to figure the animal out.

Ignoring Tessai's cautioning shout like always Kisuke shot after the feline as it made a beeline for the shining walls of the _Seireitei_.

Even if the animal was faster, Kisuke easily tracked the traces he left behind using his strange traveling skill. It seemed as if he couldn't use the skill **and** hide his glow completely at the same time

As long as he kept the cat in sight the creature continued to jump across the ground, flashing in and out of sight leaving glowing footprints behind that Kisuke could follow. If the beast could go even the smallest bit faster Kisuke knew he would fall too far behind to keep his eyes on it giving the cat the opportunity to hide and cease to leave behind a trail leading straight to the feline.

So focused was the boy on the quick tail of the fleeing cat he didn't notice the change in the buildings he dodged through. Or the people, whose clothes ceased to be as ragged and dirty as Kisuke's.

Naturally making him more noticeable.

He raced over a small arching bridge, vaulted the gate securely locked at the end after watching enviously as the cat merely disappeared and reappeared on the other side of the canal effortlessly. Kisuke almost brained himself as his focus caused him to miss the oncoming mammoth wall in his path.

"Hey!" Kisuke shouted after throwing his arms out, his palms slapping into the whitewashed wall that now took up his entire field of view. Pushing himself back he glanced left, then right along what had to be a twenty-foot wall. "How'd you manage that _Koneko_-kun?"

With a spike of excitement the boy saw, at the base of the wall, a small drainage pipe only a kitten could squirm through. He noticed a break further down in the wall and dashed over, only to find a small gate with two guards.

The guards were dressed in almost all black, but had _haori_ of a deep orange with a family crest on the backs. He first took notice of them as they suddenly appeared on either side of him, and nearly an instant after the scraggly boy's arms were captured.

"Hey, he's gone inside!" He shouted suddenly and used his malnourished frame to his advantage; no one ever guessed he was nearly eleven, or that he was a genius. His eyes left the inconsequential guards after seeing everything about their persons; their weapons, the special second sight that he had just barely begun to use in such a fashion (moments ago on the cliff) telling him they were probably master swordsmen but they had no special power glowing in them.

Kisuke's eyes darted around the inner courtyard that ran along the inside of what turned out to be a rather large palace. The cat was nowhere in sight, but he was positive the cat would have had to have left a small trail after leaving the drainage pipe even if it only gave him a general direction-

The air rushed out of him as he was deposited roughly on the other side of the bridge of what the boy realized was a moat.

Like a castle?

"Nice try kid," one of the masked guards laughed and they started to turn away so they could return to the gate.

"But _Koneko-_kun!" Kisuke shouted, trying to make his voice tremble as if he were being separated from a dear family member. The guards only laughed and he got his first good look at the family crest on the back of their coats. "Shihōin..." He murmured, his eyes skimming over the distance he was standing from the wall surrounding the palace, up to the tiled roof that he could see from his vantage. He tried not to be awed as he roughly calculated the height of the surrounding wall of the grand house of the Shihōin noble family.

Tessai had given him a few nights of question and answer about, "the rich and powerful souls," that lived in the _Seireitei_ in an attempt to curtail his desire to break into the most fortified part of Soul Society. The actual conversation had been much longer with the noble names only taking up two nights. Tessai hadn't known he himself had known so much until Kisuke had pulled it from him.

"Kisuke-kun!" Tessai's voice suddenly shouted, from a fair distance away and the boy looked around him to see that he had managed to get himself into the walls of the _Seireitei_.

"_Teme_..." Kisuke grunted as he expected black-clad guardians to descend on him and escort him just as forcefully out of the shining walls as the Shihōin guards had just ejected him rudely interrupting his pursuit...Now that he was here he was again reminded-yet again-there was a good chance curiosity came looking for him after losing track of the cat. He quickly moved toward the wall, hoping there would be an obvious exit as he neared it and saw that there was another moat surrounding the inside of this part of the _Seireitei_ nearly twice as wide as the one he'd been tossed across.

Rubbing the rib he'd landed on at the end of said toss in remembrance, he hurried across the nearest arching bridge. Tessai's form came into sight at a large open gate where there were farm wagons being escorted through by...

_Shinigami_.

Kisuke froze literally feet away from the exit as he saw them for the first time, if his odd daydreams about them didn't count. They (well most of them) glowed like Tessai and the cat. Kisuke stared in awe as he watched them pass him by, catching a glance from a few of them. He could feel the frown curve his lips as they appraised him and ignored him as they found him somehow lacking. He was very obviously not part of the splendor inside the walls of the _Seireitei_ neither buildings nor humans.

"Kisuke-kun!"

Shaking off the moment of worthlessness that seized him as he remembered his older friend waiting stuck outside, still breathing hard after running after the two of them. "I was wrong," Kisuke gave his head a vigorous shake and dislodged some of the hair into his eyes as he slapped a brilliant smile on his face, shoved out a guffaw and ran toward his friend. "_Koneko-_kun isn't a stray at all!"


	2. Ryūken, the Last Quincy

A/N: Just a small one to mention some of the Japanese words used in the following chapter, just in case my readers don't have a Japanese/English dictionary bookmarked for easy reference. _Sumimasen - _sorry (proper apology to say to a superior), _Keishu _- guard, _Boyaku _- to grumble, to complain, _Moushiwake-gozaimasen_ - sorry (even more respectful than _Sumimasen_), _Kentetsu _- wise man, _Furui _- really effin' old, _hakama _- is a divided or undivided skirt that resembles a wide pair of pants (like the _shinigami's_), _Geboku _- servant, humble servant.

* * *

Ryūken, the Last Quincy

"Shit!"

"I don't think he'd appreciate the pest," The guard suggested as his partner grumbled protest. "The drainage pipe is big enough for one to get through."

"Damn you," Yoruichi hissed. She had made it away from the outer wall but there was plenty of open space between the shrubs the pipe had lead into and the collection of bushes collected around the entrance to her personal garden. The two guards were walking toward where she was hiding and silently contemplating the distance between her current hiding place and her destination. "Blondie..."

Although intended for the ungrateful boy that she'd saved on the cliff and his attempt to get into her family palace walls it seemed to conjure the small platinum blond boy that served as caretaker to her small personal courtyard garden. "Um, _Sumimasen__..."_

Yoruichi huddled into the smallest black ball of fur she could huddle into as one of the guards crouched down to push away the leaves to see into the bushes she was currently hiding in. At the soft but insistent voice both guards were sufficiently distracted enough for the cat to dart out of her hiding place and behind them to a shrub the guard had already poked through.

"Shihōin-chan wished for a stone to be moved in her garden and I can't manage by myself," The small boy let them know how embarrassed he was at being unable to do his own duties, even at the tender age of ten (however many decades the boy'd already lived in the Soul Society).

The guards only made it worse by mocking the slight boy, and even pushing him roughly out of their way. "Where is this stone?" One of the guards, Keishu brayed.

Yoruichi watched the guards leave, the boy a few respectable steps behind so he could safely glance back and meet her golden eyes where no one should have seen her hide. Grinning a toothy grin the kitten moved only after the trio had disappeared past the walls of her personal courtyard garden.

Following them was a necessity, given that her chambers only had one door (on the outer wall) and it led to the courtyard with only one gate. There were the two guards posted to the larger eastern gate nearby but none on the small gate into the courtyard, nor the door leading from the courtyard to her outer sitting chambers.

Before she realized she could use her shape-shifting to escape the long ago monotonous scenery of her coddled life, she had studied her pretty cage in her smaller form and knew the numerous hidey holes of it should she not want to bother leaving her grounds. As a small kitten the world was much funner, the increased senses, agility and toughness made her brave enough for her to slip out into the palace proper and its surrounding courtyard.

She'd only been sneaking out into the Rukongai a handful of months, first the woodlands, then the people-choked streets of the city not far from the walls of the_ Seireitei_. She was still getting the hang of her new shape and its superior senses and even the better grasp the smaller shape gave her on her spiritual pressure.

It was easy to sneak past the guards as they were distracted by the huge rock and the thought of moving it. Yoruichi vaguely remembered wistfully wishing aloud that the rock be nearer to the koi pond so she could sit on it and sunbathe.

Leave it to-

"All the way over there? This damn thing is heavy!" The second guard Boyaku, complained.

Yoruichi giggled and it came out as a masculine chuckle as she _shunpoed_ inside to the outer sitting room, she knew once she got to her bedchamber she'd be free to transform back.

"Shihōin-chan?"

_Oh, no!_ Yoruichi darted under the nearest table as her personal guard, a very somber old man she like to call Jiji-san, but in truth was Kentetsu Furui of the _Onmitsukidō_, appeared from her inner sitting room, walking through her bedchambers toward her and the courtyard. She didn't have to see him to know he'd be in uniform, much like the two guards, all black with the orange haori and family crest, unlike the gate guards Kentetsu had the breadth of experience in his position-and more wrinkles.

Yoruichi knew if she kept still he might overlook her, and if he found her he would most likely just throw her into the moat without further thought. She curled into a furry ball and kept quiet.

"Not again," Kentetsu grumbled, his black _tabi_-clad feet filling Yoruichi's narrow field of view peering up from underneath the table. "Where are you hiding Shihōin-chan?"

Her breath froze in her tiny body, realizing she should have hidden in the pillows, she was a sitting duck! She could easily fit under this table in her larger human form meaning Kentetsu wouldn't hesitate to look for her here.

"_Baka_!"

Yoruichi's sharp ears caught the furious shouts, even the sounds of flesh meeting flesh violently. Kentetsu turned and swiftly left for the courtyard.

"What is the meaning of this gentlemen?" Kentetsu's voice barked and Yoruichi quickly moved to the door to watch the two guards drop the boy and stand at attention.

"Nothing, Kentetsu-sama," They chimed as if they had practiced to sound identical, cadence and everything.

"You should be at the gate correct?"

"_Hai_," They both chimed at the same time.

Watching them go with a barely contained growl Yoruichi resisted running out to check on her twice-over hero. As she focused on the boy's slight form she was surprised to see him lift his head and catch her gaze through the pale hair tousled into his face.

_You did it on purpose! Fool!_ Yoruichi hissed through her sharp teeth and pulled out of view, turning to escape to her bedroom to get dressed.

* * *

_Poor kid,_ Kentetsu sighed as he chased off the eastern gate guards. If they were going to slack off it might be prudent to suggest the placement of a guard or two at the princess's courtyard gate. "Oh, they broke your spectacles," He picked them up and examined the bent wires. "I'll see that they replace them-Ryūken-kun are you all right?"

The boy's eyes were fastened to the princess's door, only a moment before he looked up at Kentetsu. "Don't be foolish," He stood and quicker than the old warrior could see, the boy snatched the glasses from him. With a few quick twists of his small fingers the glasses were as good as new, none of the lenses broken thankfully.

"Have you seen Shihōin-chan?"

"Lost her again have you?" Ryūken taunted, even at his young age there was no mistaking his Quincy pride.

Even if no one knew he existed.

"Boy-"

"I saw her sneak out early this morning," Ryūken crossed his arms over his chest, not showing how painful the motion was, hiding how hurt he was. "Toward the courtyard to watch the _katas_."

"At least you aren't stupid enough to lie," Kentetsu growled as he turned and left after the two guards.

Not bothering to spare his retreating form a glance Ryūken dashed across the garden and into the sitting chambers. "Yoru-chan?'

It was easy to detect her spiritual pressure, especially since she'd turned back into her human form. "Yoru-chan?" He called as he raced through the expansive bedchambers and on into the room (larger than his) that housed his princess's wardrobe.

There could be merely moments before Kentetsu came back this way, knowing he'd been misled and-"_Baka_!"

Ryūken threw up his hands to cover his eyes as he spun around and tried to stumble back out. "_Moushiwake-gozaimasen _Yoru-chan!"

"No!" Yoruichi called and something hard hit his bruised back. "You know I don't care!" She whispered furiously as she turned to find a simple maroon silk robe to tie over her, even if she still looked no different in shape than the boy at her age. _'Ladies have modesty,'_ Ryūken had once growled at her flustered.

It was the only time she remembered him losing his calm.

With a bow of his head he opened his eyes and turned to see a silk slipper had been the missile so well-aimed and thrown impossibly hard while his back was turned. _Either that or I'm more hurt than I though!_

"What did you tell Keishu and Boyaku to make them beat you?"

At her heated words Ryūken decided not to try to lift his head to meet her eyes. He hadn't seen which robe she'd chosen and found himself curious. "I may have brought the purity of their mothers into question in a condescending manner."

"Condescending?" Yoruichi frowned and moved closer to him, wishing he'd stop bowing his head like that. He had always been the only one not to, he looked into her eyes and still made her feel respected. "Did your dad teach you that one?"

"That's what one of them said," Ryūken described. "I knew it from Sōken yes...but Boyaku called me a, 'little condescending bastard'."

"Boyaku knows, ha!" Yoruichi's eyebrows hitched up in surprise. "And Kentetsu?" She stepped close enough to lift Ryūken's head with a small hand under his chin.

Ryūken stepped back out of her reach as she surprised him by actually touching him, he hadn't though she would act so familiar with him. "I told him you had gone to watch the _kata_ this morning."

"It's almost over," Yoruichi moved out of the room past Ryūken without touching him and he followed a few steps behind. "He won't be gone long."

"You're back early," Ryūken managed to sound casual even if he knew he was in no position to demand information from the only child of the Shihōin noble family. They had been friends since Ryūken had gotten picked up by Kentetsu, at first to work in the palace stable.

Yoruichi quickly told the tale of her adventures outside the castle with the small blond boy and his larger dark-haired friend. She moved into the outer sitting room so that Ryūken wouldn't get in trouble for being inside. She moved to flop down into the pillows surrounding her previous hiding place, the table was bare, but she usually had her small meals here. She looked across the room to watch Ryūken drop onto the edge of the rug a few feet away from the table.

She usually would have waved him closer, so they could giggle over the more comedic details of her dangerous morning excursion into _Rukongai_. With Kentetsu probably on his way back to her chambers Yoruichi was sure he wouldn't want to get caught doing something even a bit improper, he might not even stay to talk. "Ryū-kun..."

Their eyes met and a small smile curved his lips. "Yoru-chan?"

"Thank you for moving my rock."

The small smile curled upwards into a full-blow smile, something she hadn't had many opportunities to see on the solemn boy, "Of course, Yoru-chan." Ryūken nodded, his soft pale hair moving down over his glasses. "But it was mostly Keishu_."_

A soft giggle escaped Yoruichi as she watched the boy tossed his hair back then gently push his finger against the bridge of his glasses so they slid up into place on his face. "What a surprise! Boyaku shirking even that much work?" Yoruichi laughed, sarcasm dripping from every word.

Startled Yoruichi looked up as Ryūken jumped to his feet. She looked around to see if Kentetsu was within sight, only to miss Ryūken as the boy darted out the door, sliding it shut behind him before Yoruichi even heard the door open from her inner sitting room to her bedchambers. She stood and moved into her room and Kentetsu came to a stop a few steps inside her room.

"Shihōin-chan, where have you been-"

"Jiji-san!" She cheered and laughed. "You found me!"

"Where have you been?" Kentetsu continued doggedly, the glower on his face made Yoruichi happy Ryūken had escaped, even if to only stay out of his sight a few moments more.

"Watching the exercises in the yard," She moved quickly to him and threw her arms around his middle to hug him. He patted her head, tousling the short unbound layer of her long purple hair affectionately. "I was hiding."

"Where?"

Giggling Yoruichi pulled away and moved out of his reach as she detected the irritation in his voice. She had hid from him more often than just this one time; she had been going missing for short stints ever since she had first shape-shifted nearly four years ago. "It's not a good hiding place if everyone knows where it is!"

Kentetsu gave a labored sigh, a good sign that he was at the end of his rope (Yoruichi was quite familiar with it). "Geboku is ready in the sunroom for your calligraphy lesson."

Frowning Yoruichi moved to find her favorite slippers, black silk with a decent gripping sole. She turned in time to watch Kentetsu moving across her room, after Ryūken no doubt. "Jiji-san!" She cheered and ran to him, faster than most could track, she hadn't mastered her spiritual energy well enough in her human shape to _shunpo_ but she got close. "You're going to walk me to my lesson right?"

"Walk you..?" Kentetsu's exasperation was finally coming out in his voice.

Yoruichi was tempted to make an innocent comment about losing her way by herself, even if she knew the large palace like the back of her hand, even better than it's builders did. "Do you have somewhere else to be Jiji-san?" She let her bottom lip stick out a little as she frowned and tried to control the level of princess whine in the question.

"Some of the guards roughed up Ryūken-kun earlier, I was just going to see if he was all right," Kentetsu turned and met the sharp golden eyes of his princess.

"Oh Ryū-kun's all right," Yoruichi moved to take Kentetsu's sword-calloused hand, tugging impatiently. "Geboku'll be grumpy and take it out on me the entire lesson if we're too late."

"You've seen Ryūken-kun?"

"Yup, just a moment ago, he was going to take my favorite _hakama_ to the wash," Yoruichi quickly blurted, remembering she actually needed someone to do so, she had taken them off while shifting in her closet and none of the servants searched through her things thoroughly enough to see where she stashed her cloths while she was gone.

She knew Ryūken wouldn't do something as menial as that, especially since he thought her father let her wear far too masculine cloths, _hakama_ included. She didn't particularly care, she just wanted to keep the two apart until Kentetsu cooled off and forgot about the boy.

Unfortunately it seemed the information only helped Kentetsu decided to find the child where Yoruichi claimed he was. He was soon tugging on her arm as he led the way out of her bedchambers and through the inner sitting room. Yoruichi remained silent as he led her toward the sunroom, and the laundry.

From her second favorite pastime as a kitten, snooping, Yoruichi knew that the only people aware of her first favorite pastime, escaping were: Ryūken her only real friend, Kentetsu her personal guard, and Geboku her personal servant (who was only partially aware her princess went places without her in tow).

The only person aware that her hobby took her outside the palace walls was Ryūken and Yoruichi was sure nobody knew-even the boy himself-that he was such an important person in her life. She had met the lanky boy five years ago when he had been responsible for the vilest of chores in the stable. She didn't know how he had managed the feat but only a few weeks after their chance encounter she had found herself with a self-appointed gardener and her first true friend.

She had never been able to wrestle the information out of the boy, and was afraid to mention it to any adult, least he lose a position not officially assigned to him. She had even debased herself with pleading in a whiny voice-so childish-but he never told her how he'd gotten the job.

Probably because he did it well. He had made her flowers flourish after a few months of his tending. Maybe he'd made the mares extra productive while caring for the stalls and earned himself the right to request where to use his gift.

Snooping told her he had been born outside the _Seireitei_. It seemed he wasn't forthcoming with where his family might reside, even if none of the palace guard were interested in pushing him when he was probably just an orphan.

The boy had spoken a few times about his father Sōken but only in private conversation with Yoruichi, which were truly few and far between. Although time and time again Yoruichi reminded Ryūken of his more important capacity as her only friend, he kept distance between them.

Ryūken called it a "respectable" distance but his insistence on keeping it wasn't why she felt he still treated her like a princess. She felt that respect even when they were close, and it had the added warmth of companionship.

Before Ryūken she'd been alone. A shape-changing oddity-although she let nobody know, she still felt it-not to mention a princess, only heir to the Shihōin noble family. Kids were ordered to play with her; she had never been able to fake it.

Yoruichi had found it easy to confess that secret to the boy the night he'd shown up raking the sand in her courtyard. He had immediately huddled close to her as they sat watching the fish and told her the story of his people, the Quincy. Mostly he muttered about pride and how he was the last, along with his father.

Sōken and Ryuken's mother-whose name was another secret he kept for himself-had somehow made it to the Soul Society, although their enemies struggled to eradicate their souls from the Cycle of Rebirth. Yoruichi could only remember Ryūken talking of his mother that once and never again. Obviously there were indeed the only two Quincy.

It had made her feel even more close to the boy after hearing he had only a father, like her. She hadn't gotten a lot of information about Sōken, Ryūken kept his family pretty close to his chest, but she found herself making unconfirmed parallels between her family and the Quincy's. She had never known her mother, she had died during childbirth and Yoruichi had always wondered if Ryūken suffered from such a guilt, being responsible for the death of her own mother.

Yoruichi's small fingers clamped as hard as they could around Kentetsu's large wide hand as he began to slip it from her grasp. "Jiji-san?"

"You can make it this far can't you?" Kentetsu teased, and indeed they were at a junction of three hallways and the sunroom was at the end of the right fork.

The laundry room was a floor down, the stairs at the end of the left fork.

"I-I..." Yoruichi tried to keep her face from scrunching up in worry as she tried her best to think of something, something other than the truth. She wouldn't let anyone else know her secret. "If I tell you where I was hiding while I was watching the _katas_ would you leave Ryū-kun alone?"

Startled Kentetsu's dark eyes widened and he gave an involuntary quick intake of breath before glancing around the empty hallway. "Shihōin-chan-"

"**Two** of my hiding places?" She could give away all of them and still have the best way to hide from everyone. "Ryū-kun was beat by those brutes Keishu and Boyaku, do you think he needs to be harmed more today?"

Their eyes met over the height difference and the respectable foot or two of distance their joined hands allowed. "I won't hurt him, Shihōin-chan, if that is your wish."

"It is. He's my only friend."


	3. Lost in the Trees and Rain

A/N: Sorry this chapter is sorter than the others, but I'm working on more than one FF at a time. Enjoy!

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Lost in the Trees and Rain

It had started out as a nervous excuse.

Kisuke had been barely five when he died and floated up out of a lake in soul society. He'd had horrible nightmares after figuring out exactly where he was and what it meant.

Innocent enough the dream started with the boy alone in the middle of a jungle wilderness, only the billions of stars for light, no moon. There was nothing but plants and trees. No animal life...but there were still frightening sounds and they soon sent Kisuke running into the thick trees and muted blackness.

They weren't frightening enough to wake him in the night with more than a gasp or spasm of his body. Sometimes Tessai would be awake-but groggy-and he would mumble a concerned question.

Tessai always slipped off to sleep again before Kisuke had to admit his fears of noises in the night. Not noises here, in the dark of the forests of soul society with innocent animal souls as cause.

Despair soon came to grip him at night, when sleep was imminent he hid tears from Tessai. He knew he was younger but his caretaker was only a few years older than he.

It seemed after this behavior started a monstrous storm hit the jungle of his dreams making it even more terrifying to be stumbling blindly through.

Lost.

He was so lost in the dense jungle he began to wake up screaming for help. Tessai couldn't be avoided and eventually found out about the nightmares.

"You dream?" Tessai asked awed and amazed.

Up until that point it had always been young Kisuke in awe and amazement-don't forget full of jealousy-about his friend's gifts. The quiet pressure that settled over them when they were close. Some of the almost magical things he did with his power. They soon became so spectacular with practice that Kisuke's second sight became paltry in comparison.

Every night he dreamt of being lost in the dark jungle, sometimes it was raining, making Kisuke's dour moods worse. They usually woke him up and depending on the time of night he would either start breakfast or try to sleep again, with no dreams to disturb his shallow rest.

After a year and a half of living in the soul society, most nights plagued by this dream, something changed. His second eyesight had done nothing to help him as he tried to penetrate the night with it. There was no life here other than him.

A shape appeared in the distance, small and low to the ground, but only with perspective-it was pretty far away. Kisuke's curiosity had immediately sparked because the energy that seemed contained under the skin of Tessai seemed to **make up** the shape entirely.

Every night it was there, he gained ground every night only to lose it while he was awake. Tessai noticed the difference since the small boy was now quite irritable when he was shaken awake after sleeping through the night, and often grumbling about being allowed to sleep in.

The shape never grew clearer. Kisuke had been sure if he could gain just a little more on it the shape would tell him what he chased.

It went on like this for a long time. He never gained more ground, the legs of his dream body got longer and ate up more jungle floor, but the shape stayed out of sight.

Over the years of dreaming he found his emotions affected the jungle, mostly when he began dreading sleep again, the endless chase through the trees. He learned that the rain sympathized and the more depressed he was the fatter the drops, the more frustrated and upset the harder they fell.

That night they made camp outside the _Seireitei_ wall in the woodlands, only a few hours' journey from the Eastern Gate and the Shihoin palace and its cat (Kisuke had started referring to it as "_Koneko_-sama," or "Shihōin-_koneko_").

That night the shape in his dreams was gone. The jungle was dark again. The stars were a bit more piercing and the canopy thinner as Kisuke ran the direction he'd been traveling, trying his best to go in a straight line.

Paw prints.

"Heh," Kisuke snorted and knelt down to compare his extended hand to the glowing print. "Not a _koneko_..." **Way** too big.

The prints turned sharply and he followed them instead through the jungle just as easily. He didn't know how long he'd been following but by now he was running. Tessai might wake him soon, what if the tracks faded while he was awake?

The rapt attention on the paw prints blotted out all else until they vanished. No shape, nothing but soft rose marble under his bare feet. Kisuke's head fell back on his shoulders as he gazed around at his new surroundings.

The room was so large Kisuke's startled gasp echoed in it. There were only three walls-all of pale gold marble-that all abruptly but elegantly ended as if intended at the jungle. Leaves and parts of trees hung over the marble floor the veins running through it a gold that complemented the walls.

For a moment Kisuke lounged on a long ruby red upholstered chaise the pillows almost making him want to sleep...In a dream.

While he moved from chair, to ottoman, to pile of pillows Kisuke's mind was still speeding. He wanted to follow the prints back the way he'd come and see if he could find the real trail after the shape.

This beautiful place wasn't just this one room; he could see two doors on adjacent walls. He'd have to leave a trail that could hope to linger, maybe there would be something inside the palace he could leave bits of behind.

So that meant a little of one curiosity-to keep it at bay-then the pursuit of the other curiosity, while still keeping this palace of mysteries in the back of his mind as he sought out his shape.

It seemed that neither were destined to be satisfied as he approached one of the doors Tessai woke him up after letting him sleep an extra hour. Since Kisuke wasn't particular to the idea of leaving his dreams or putting distance between the Shihōin-_koneko_ and himself, his mood wasn't dreary as his friend had expected.

And after dreaming of the impressive palace room...Kisuke awoke with a gasp and a dramatic clasp of his hands to Tessai's shoulders. "We have to find a way into the Shihōin palace!"


	4. Kentetsu's Best Offer

Kentetsu's Best Offer

Yoruichi heard the footsteps easily through the door as she approached it from the other side; she had only just shifted to cat form, leaving her cloths in a heap on the floor by her bed. She was getting so good with her kitty senses that she could tell the soft pattern was Geboku.

Hopefully not to retrieve her or the alarm that she was gone would sound early. She wanted to give that blond brat a good beating, or at least as good a beating as she was able to deliver with her rudimentary fighting skills.

The few she'd gleaned from watching _katas_--which she actually did occasionally--and the small amount Ryūken had taught her. He was good with a staff, but she found he excelled at archery...so why learn close quarters when you could pick them off before they're able to close the distance.

_Otousan _forbid her to learn to fight since he was cowardly enough to worry she'd get hurt. Kentetsu and most of his comrades secretly agreed with Yoruichi--though they'd never tell the child (too bad she'd been curled up under one of their tables)--considering she was the only true heir of the Shihōin noble house.

_"But Shihōin-sama will never understand simply because he isn't Shihōin by blood," _Ryūken had muttered, the fierceness of his conviction didn't fool Yoruichi, even at her age. How well he must empathize with the princess, also being the last of her kind, a warrior race that longed to fight to be free. Even now.

The excitement of yesterday's encounter with the fifth seat and subsequent chase through _Rukongai_ had been the true reason she'd shifted earlier in the day than usual. Yoruichi curled into the smallest ball she could as she hid under the piles of pillows neatly arranged on her bed.

Geboku walked over toward the closet and disappeared inside a moment before reemerging and leaving the room without even looking for the princess dirty cloths in her arms. By now Yoruichi was pretty sure the lady didn't want to be the one to tell _otousan_ or--more than likely--Kentetsu that she was missing yet again.

As soon as she was gone Yoruichi leapt off the bed and shot out of the room focusing on her kitty agility instead of her spiritual energy. She was about to _shunpo_ through the garden when small but strong arms trapped her.

After knowing him so many years her kitty nose recognized Ryūken's scent. Yoruichi was glad she'd taken her form seriously, learned its strengths and weaknesses--in short taught herself how to truly be a cat--otherwise Ryūken might have gotten friendly with her claws.

"Furui-san is on his way to give the guards on this side of the grounds some company," Ryūken whispered as he carried her toward the garden exit.

Yoruichi craned her neck around the slim boy to see the two normal day guards at the nearby gate. "He's not putting guards at my courtyard gate is he?" She whispered in her rumbling voice.

The corners of Ryūken's mouth tilted upward a bit at Yoruichi's masculine voice. "Not yet, I think he's going to ask Shihōin-sama for permission."

"No!"

Ryūken glanced around semi-alarmed that the cat's loud exclamation would carry. "He's bringing two more for the gate, and I'm pretty sure he'll try to stay all morning."

"Where are you taking me?" Yoruichi had calmed enough to whisper and relax in the boy's gentle hold.

"I just wanted..." Ryūken cleared his throat. "Wanted to tell you about the guards. Were you leaving?"

"Just about to."

"Furui-san said..." Ryūken mumbled unintelligibly and stopped walking to glance back toward the gate.

Yoruichi stretched and was able to catch Kentetsu's voice and numerous footsteps getting louder. "Ryū-kun let me go!"

"What do you want me to tell him?" Ryūken loosened his arms to allow the kitten to jump to the ground.

"The truth! I mysteriously escaped and am out running around out in Rukongai," The cat moved out of sight into the bushes and Ryūken found himself stepping after her hesitantly, he hated when she left, would rather not know she had left than watch her walk away and do nothing. "And that I'll be back!"

Ryūken's keen eyes lost the feline as she disappeared through a drainage pipe. He stared a few moments as he tried not to chase after. _Kentetsu said you thought of me as your only friend._

The boy had overheard the scathing tirade Kentetsu had delivered to Geboku and the other servants close to the princess--at least half a dozen even with him curiously excluded. As his harsh voice spoke the Quincy had felt his heart fill with shame but by the end figured out that the soldier was upset because the princess was so closely tied to the gardener.

He'd only heard the word thrown around a few times in Yoruichi's usual insouciant manner. She had told Kentetsu to leave him alone because he was her only friend.

Kentetsu caught sight of the pale boy only a few feet out of the bushes. He waved the boy toward him as he left the two new guards to keep company with the two old guards.

The warm smile on the old man's face threw Ryūken for a loop as they moved into the garden. "Ryū-kun I have good news."

With an inward cringe Ryūken wondered what the guardian would do to "protect" the princess. He moved to the stone he'd gotten the guards to move, wishing Yoruichi was there to sit with him.

"Shihōin-dono wants you to join the royal guard," Kentetsu announced after making sure there was only Ryūken to hear.

Surprised Ryūken felt a quiver of fear, "Why?"

"I suggested it, you're old enough and I've seen you with a bow," Kentetsu complimented and Ryūken tried his best not to grin at the approving chime to the father figure's words. "You're capable of more than tending a garden. Most of the new recruits get their foot in the door using their family names, but I've decided to speak for you."

Quietly Ryūken shook his head as he thought about what the kind words hid and as he looked up he saw what was behind the mask of kindness and was very glad he refused. This real face belonged to the man that had shouted about a princess sinking to the level of a boy that cleaned horse stalls and dug in the dirt.

"Why are you shaking your head?" Kentetsu's voice rumbled. "Do you think you have a choice? Your choices are reflected on me from now on."

"The only reason they would is if I decided to join the guard," Ryūken countered. "I'm sure the only reason Shihōin-sama even cares is because you brought it up," He shook his head softly again. "I have a duty to the princess."

"Of course you do!" The voice didn't match the face yet but it was getting there. "To protect the princess...Which you can't do."

Kentetsu noticed the pride that puffed the small boy's chest out, his posture getting much straighter. He knew the child had the ego of a warrior in his prime, knew the right words to get him to accept this suggestion. "You're guards can't do the job?"

Fury rose inside Kentetsu but he kept it reigned in, a harsh bark of laughter the only evidence of it. "I thought you had the ability...The drive to be a warrior but--"

"I was born a warrior," Ryūken hissed, his voice coming out filled with the pride billowing inside him as the man that had just been praising him was questioning those very words. The boy had to bite his lip to keep himself from continuing, the words that so freely fell from his lips when he defended his honor as a Quincy.

"Show me."

Ryūken stood and gave a polite bow of his blond head, "_Sumimasen_, Furui-san." He moved to pass the man but cried out as fingers dug into his shoulder and nearly broke something with the force he turned the boy to face him with.

With a gasp of pain and realization Ryūken glared defiantly up at the old man. He wanted Ryūken away from Yoruichi and he was using any means necessary. This tactic was probably the best he was going to offer, the support of a veteran already in the royal guard. It was just a scam that he was going to learn how to fight so that he could protect the princess, Ryūken was positive that as soon as he said yes he would never see his princess again.

Kentetsu wouldn't stop, and he had the authority and sway with the head of the Shihōin family to make Ryūken miserable. He had relied on people overlooking him to get where he was today. Nobody had appointed him the caretaker of the princess's garden, he had "gone missing" long enough for the stable master to think he had run away from his job, then he had shown up to assist the harried palace gardener, Atsuryoku. No wonder he'd gone uninvited to this tongue lashing.

Trapped Ryūken's mind went over appropriate responses. At his young--and generally considered naive--age just being sure of himself had gotten him the duty of taking care of the small courtyard so Atsuryoku had just one less job to fill his demanding day. "I'll..." He paused as his voice wavered as he was almost overwhelmed by Kentetsu's assertive demeanor. "I'll make you proud, like a son..."

"Of course--"

"If!" Ryūken interrupted and the old man merely smiled indulgently, he smelled victory. "You let the princess learn to fight too."

"No."

There wasn't even enough silence for Kentetsu to have thought about it even a second before answering. "_Sumimasen_," He murmured before slipping his shoulder out of the man's loosened fingers, his movement away from the soldier so fast it would have made Yoruichi proud. It would have made Sōken proud.

Part of him really wanted to change his mind, he hadn't learned enough from his father before they had been separated. He worked as often as he could on the rudimentary skills alone and with the princess but he knew the Shihōin family guard not only taught boys and girls of the lesser noble houses like Fon and Tsukabishi but also the guardians of Soul Society the _Onmitsukidō_ and old students of the house taught _hakuda_, at the _Shinou_ Academy.

The only person that could teach him to be a better warrior would be his father, because the part of him that spoke now--the Quincy--knew that not even the best archer in all of Soul Society and the World of the Living could hold a candle to Sōken, a Quincy.

"Shihōin-dono doesn't want the princess to harm herself in such endeavors," Kentetsu objected, and Ryūken could hear that the old man's irritation had been redirected at the stubbornness of his noble.

Ryūken stopped as he neared the exit, set on getting away from the guard before he could remember he was trying to separate the boy from his charge. "The bigger crime isn't my missing out on training because of my lack of a household to speak for me but Shihōin_-hime_ missing out on training she was destined to learn and teach others."

"Ryūken-kun!" Kentetsu growled and Ryūken almost ran for it as the man's eyes practically glowed with fury. "You overstep--"

"I mean no disrespect to Shihōin-sama but he is not a warrior," Ryūken murmured getting ready to flee as he chose his words carefully. "Only _sensai_ can pass down the style of the Shihōin house, when only Shihōin-_hime_ should have such an honor. My princess should be the one that leads the _kata_, but she has to hide in the bushes and watch in secret."

The words weren't what Kentetsu wanted to hear but Ryūken could tell by his reaction to them that he had thought those words numerous times. "Shihōin-dono will not allow it."

Ryūken met the old man's gaze over the garden and repeated softly, "_Sumimasen, _Furui-san."


	5. Knocked Out Without a Single Swing

Knocked Out Without a Single Swing

There were several scents just outside the palace wall Keishu and Boyaku's the most prevalent but the most recent was new to her. She knew it belonged to that accursed boy, and quickly followed her nose out of the _Seireitei_.

Today she only planned on learning where the boy lived, since he had a size advantage while she was in her cat form. She would either have to figure out how to bring clothes with her while she escaped the palace, or find some before she shifted in _Rukongai_.

After a few moments of sniffing out the most recent trail the boy and his friend had left behind Yoruichi hoped she would come across some clothes today, while searching the boy out. She let her mind wander a bit as she followed the two boys' paths maybe she would get his attention and get another chase.

_Chase? _Yoruichi shook her tiny head as she thought over her sudden idea. She was a princess, and although she wandered _Rukongai_ in search for bigger and better things to entertain herself with...She paused as she thought over her motives. She wanted to get into a fight, get back at the boy who had almost revealed her to the guards.

Right?

After walking a few more feet Yoruichi found a fresh scent, not the blond boy but the older one that couldn't keep his spiritual energy contained. She glanced in the direction his scent indicated, away from the _Seireitei_ and the more populated parts of the _Rukongai_ toward the outlaying farms. The boy was alone; her true target's scent hadn't accompanied him at all. She only hesitated a second before continuing on her way following the older scent, and the newer scent of the large boy by himself only varied a little from the scent she was following.

Not far down the trail she found where the boys had parted ways, the blonde's scent moved in the opposite direction, toward the wall of the _Seireitei_ through the trees. She quickly moved through the trees and bushes as the scent grew fresher with every step. She started to _shunpo_ every few steps, making sure she was still going the right direction with a few sniffs as she got closer and closer to the _Seireitei_.

A strange hiccupping gasp caught her attention as the shining walls came into sight. The path of the boy started to wander left a bit, then right as if he'd realized he was straying from what had been a rather straight path so far. The wind shifted and brought the boy's smell to her nose and she abandoned the footpath to hone in on the source of the odd hitched breathing.

Tucked away against a recently fallen tree shrouded purposefully in branches pulled from the same decaying tree she found the blonde. He was smaller than she remembered, even if most people were taller than her kitten form, probably because he was curled into a ball.

There were very obvious tracks of clean skin showing through the dirt on his face where tears had been rubbed across his cheeks. He looked like he was asleep, his face relaxed but his breath far from calm and deep. As she watched he took in half a breath before his chest hitched and he sobbed softly. Yoruichi wondered just how hard and how long the young boy had been crying.

_He can't be much older than me..._Yoruichi ventured closer, under the wilting branches he'd dragged over his small space. Was he lost? Separated from the other boy? They had appeared to be friends why would they separate if not on accident?

"_Koneko_-sama..."

In a _shunpo_ Yoruichi was gone, suddenly a safe distance away from him. Another _shunpo_ took her behind a large tree and then she quickly pulled her _reiatsu_ in before the unusual senses of the child caught it. She held still where she hid but there was nothing for her to listen to but his sobbing breaths. The words he had murmured finally hit her and she pondered at his motivation.

Eyes locked on the small grotto the boy had made for himself Yoruichi waited a few moments before she realized she was acting very much the coward. She was a princess! A Shihōin! She ventured out of her hiding place and moved across the ground her posture crouched as she stealthily snuck back into the boy's den.

_Still asleep..._She lowered down to lay on the ground, resting her head on her folded paws to watch his sleeping face.

Not questioning her behavior she pondered instead what the boy might have been crying so hard about. Maybe he was much younger than he looked and he was afraid of being alone. Yoruichi felt empathy for the boy but quickly told herself that she wasn't anything like the brat, she had a friend.

As she thought about Ryūken she realized that she would probably cry herself to sleep if she lost him. _We both need more friends..._She thought as she felt herself drifting off to sleep but she realized too late to fight it.

* * *

A rumble in her chest pulled her out the shallow cat nap she'd fallen into and after a moment she realized she was purring. She tilted her head slightly to give scratching fingers access under her chin. Fingers?

There was a soft upward tilt to the boy's lips but otherwise his green eyes were still watery with tears. As their eyes met he gave her a final scratch and then pulled away to curl back into his prior ball. "Welcome back Shihōin-_koneko_ did you sleep well?"

Struck mute Yoruichi could only stare at the boy. How had he figured it out? She had never even met him before yesterday, as either a cat or a human. Her mind moved over the prior day's chase and she recalled the comical sight of _Keishu and _Boyaku tossing the boy out on his narrow ass. _Smart enough to read eh?_

Relief flooded the small kitten as she realized that he didn't know her identity, just that she had hidden in the palace of the Shihōin noble family. Maybe he thought she was their pet. Overcome suddenly with mirth a masculine chuckle escaped her muzzle and she saw the upward twitch of the boy's lips in reaction to the soft sound, as if it were infectious.

"Do you dream Shihōin-_koneko_?" He murmured softly the question surprising the cat. When she didn't answer he gave a morose sigh and the faint smile on his lips faded moments before he buried his face in his arms his body spasming softly with the residual sobs of before.

Giving the boy a sound beating had been her original motive for searching him out. Now, as she watched his lanky frame shiver with sorrow, whispering unintelligible words as the tears returned and the hitch in his breath increased in frequency, she found herself unsure. After making the mistake of comparing their situations and finding them similar Yoruichi was now trapped in a soft compassion for the dirty child.

"Yes," She murmured.

Flooded green eyes darted to meet hers and she saw the bright curiosity of before, the light that had been obvious in his gaze from the second she saw him clinging to that cliff. "You really can talk..." He whispered her hearing and close proximity the only thing that made it possible to catch the surprised mumble of words.

"Did you think you imagined it?" Yoruichi asked as she watched the boy's posture change, his arms uncurling from his torso, becoming more open.

"I was beginning to."

"Why would you do that?" Yoruichi asked her ears swiveling forward as her whiskers perked up in curiosity.

The question seemed to remind him of whatever had brought him to this point and his chin trembled as a fresh tear tumbled over his eyelashes and down his cheek. He gave a loud sniff and shook his head his dirty blonde hair falling into his eyes.

Quickly Yoruichi moved closer and captured the tear with a flick of her tiny pink tongue. Instead of helping the boy only sobbed louder and suddenly she was caught in his arms her breath almost hugged from her small body. The "oof" of expelled breath was enough for the boy to loosen his grip but he didn't release her. Yoruichi made herself relax and settle on his chest surprised at how easily she could feel his ribs.

"Why are you crying?" Yoruichi ventured as his skilled fingers found the perfect spot under her chin to start up her purr. She let her eyes close, she had only been held by Ryūken in her animal form and never long enough to be pet or for her to realize she was capable of purring. Of course she could purr! She landed on her feet when she fell too, just like a cat! She should know better.

"My friend yelled at me."

"The boy from yesterday?"

"Tessai-san..." He murmured. "I'm Urahara Kisuke," He continued, then fell silent and Yoruichi was pretty sure he expected her to reply with an introduction of her own.

"Why did he yell at you?" She asked instead and it was enough to distract him, she was pretty sure in normal circumstances he wouldn't be so easily diverted from his curiosity.

"I...I wanted to sneak into the _Seireitei_ to see you."

Surprised Yoruichi could only purr as his fingers moved to the side of her neck, under her ear. "Me?"

"I've never met a talking cat before."

"You'd probably get put in prison," Yoruichi warned and the boy gave a long sigh, the large breath making his small chest expand under the kitten. "Don't be stupid."

"T-that's what he said..."

_Damn that was the wrong thing to say,_ Yoruichi thought as she felt the tremble in the child's frame. She looked up and saw he had squeezed his eyes shut to try and capture the fresh tears. It was true, the kid was lucky he'd gotten in the walls the first time, let alone far enough in to see the Shihōin palace walls. "You should go and find him, trying to get into the _Seireitei_ isn't a good idea."

"I can't!" Kisuke protested and Yoruichi went tense as his entire frame shuddered with his sorrow. "He-" Sniff. "He's already gone! He yelled at me to leave him alone f-f-forever!"

His petting paused as her ears tilted outward and down a little, in the kitty version of a frown. She debated on whether or not she should help him, it was sort of the opposite of what she had come here intending to do. Well she wasn't really doing what she had started the day imagining. Retribution had turned into consolation thanks to a little empathy. "I can find him."

A yowl of surprise erupted from the kitten as the boy bolted up into a sitting position his arms clutching the cat close so she wouldn't tumble to the ground. "H-how?"

"I am a cat."

"Really?"

A trill of worry ran along Yoruichi's spine at the question and she squirmed in his arms until he let her down. She looked up at him, and although the sorrow was still there in the clean tracks of his face and the overall fragileness of his frame, the curiosity was so bright in his green eyes there was no mistaking what it was. "I can follow his trail with my nose."

"Oh..."

Perplexed Yoruichi watched his face fall and she fought the impulse to ask why he was so disappointed that she had the senses of a cat. Maybe he suspected she wasn't really what she looked like. Truthfully she wasn't, but at the same time was.

"I can follow him too."

"How?"

"I..." He broke eye contact only frustrating Yoruichi more.

With a small growl she turned and left the small enclosed space. _I can't believe I wanted to help-_

"W-wait!"

Ignoring the cry, she kept walking through the woodlands conscious of the footsteps crashing after her. She knew he would probably try to follow her into the _Seireitei_ but it would be much harder for him this time around. She let out a yowl as the boy scooped her up and squeezed her close.

"D-don't leave!"

Surprised by the tears in his voice Yoruichi didn't sink her claws into the boy's arm as her first instinct screamed. "Let me go!" She ordered. "Right now-oof!" She only twisted her body at the last second her legs folding to absorb the landing as he did exactly as she ordered. She lunged forward and _shunpoed_ away, once again ignoring the boy's cries as he took chase again.

"I can see it! I can see the glow!"

Kisuke almost tripped over her as she came to an abrupt stop. She looked up at him in disbelief. He could only mean her spiritual energy, and he could only see it if he... "Use it to follow your friend then!" She shouted and started to leave even if her curiosity screamed inside her to turn back and have a long talk with the boy.

So both of them...This Kisuke and his friend Tessai, they both had enough spiritual energy to sense it in others. "Stop following me!"

"But..." Kisuke stumbled to a stop as the kitten stopped to turn back and glare at him. "He said he didn't want to have to worry about me anymore...My...s-stupid suicidal curiosity..."

"He's right," Yoruichi growled and immediately regretted it as she noticed the tears were making fresh paths of clean on his face. "If you were thinking about trying to get into the _Seireitei_."

They both just stood there, staring at each other until Yoruichi broke eye contact to lower her head and give the itch behind her ear a scratch with her back paw. "Let's go," She sighed and turned to follow the path she'd followed into the thick of the woodlands to the spot where Tessai's trail went off by itself.

It was a few minutes of silence before Kisuke's curiosity overwhelmed both his sorrow and manners. "How'd you learn to talk?"

"Like everyone else does."

"Your parents taught you?"

She didn't clarify that it was Geboku and a few other servants, since "everyone else" would have learned from their parents.

Her silence didn't deter him, now that he had her to question. "How many talking cats are there in soul society?"

"One," She grumbled.

"Oh..." The soft gasp took her by surprise and she glanced back at him. "I'm sorry."

_Sorry? _Yoruichi tried not to trip as her attention wavered. Why would he be sorry? She turned back to the trail the older boy had left behind.

"Can you see it too?" The question burst out of Kisuke as if he had been holding it in forever.

"See what?"

"N-nothing, never mind."

_Damn it,_ Yoruichi glared at the dirt as she kept her nose working. She needed to be able to focus to smell...In sudden inspiration Yoruichi stopped using her nose and focused on sensing the trail of spiritual energy that would no doubt spill out of Tessai to leave an obvious trail.

"Can all cats in soul society talk?"

"Not that I know of," Yoruichi said gruffly as he distracted her, wondering how she'd gotten into this mess. What had looked like a chance to stretch her fighting skills ended up being a...What was this? Why was she doing this?

"Do you know a lot of cats then?" Kisuke continued.

"Do you always-"

"Ask so many questions? Yeah," Kisuke had to stumble to a stop to avoid stepping on the cat as she stopped abruptly and peer up with amber eyes.

"I'd like to be able to concentrate please, "Yoruichi sighed when the boy didn't seem ashamed for the constant stream of questions.

"Me too but only to keep it palpable..." He gave a small nod and pressed his finger over his lips. "Ssh, sorry."

_Palpable? _Yoruichi snapped her tiny jaw shut before she proved she was no better than he. Instead she filed it away for later and relaxed the hold on her spiritual energy and it moved out with little coaxing in front of her to light up the unintentional trail of _reiatsu_ left behind by the boy.

Trying her best to ignore the loud gasp of surprise Kisuke let out the moment her guards were relaxed. "I'm not helping you unless you promise not to try to break into the _Seireitei_."

"But I dreamt of your palace...well **a** palace...and paw prints...'

Yoruichi didn't have to focus as much with her spiritual pressure, the hard part was **controlling** it, she was letting it have free reign. "Paw prints, eh?"

"Everyone thinks I'm special since I dream," Meaning he was surprised that she wasn't acting the same.

"I dream too," Yoruichi reminded him. "Remember?" The princess was also aware of just how odd it was for those in Soul Society to dream, since Geboku had thrown a fit when she'd caught wind that her charge dreamed.

"What do you dream of?"

"My home."

Unfortunately he wasn't satisfied by her short answer, and didn't mind shooting even more questions at her because of it among them, "Shihōin palace? You live there and dream of it?"

"What about you?"

"L-listen _koneko_-sama if you promise to...stay and talk," Kisuke's cheeks flushed. "Or to come back and visit. I'll avoid the _Seireitei_."

"You want to ask me countless questions don't you?" Yoruichi tried to keep the smile out of her voice, since her feline face didn't do obvious ones, no need to encourage the behavior. "Do you think I'm the maker of these paw prints in your dream?"

The musical laughter that burst from the boy was almost infectious; Yoruichi had hardly heard one so free, unrestrained. "Not unless you can become large enough to leave a paw print bigger than my hand."

Kisuke leaned down and held his hand out, fingers stretched wide. He tried his best not to grin like a fool when the little kitten moved close again and lifted up onto her back legs to press her tiny paw into the center of his palm.

The beautiful glow of the creature's energy had kept him completely distracted since it had first pulsed out past her fur. It had quickly exceeded anything Tessai had unless he focused; when he'd rescued him on the cliff for example.

When the paw came into contact Kisuke noticed the tingling brush of the energy spilling out, like Tessai all the time. There had been no sign of it before, even when he'd held the cat close when he'd first woken up in the forest.

"It will get bigger as I grow but not much bigger than this," Yoruichi dropped back to all four paws.

"How old are you?" Kisuke had thought the voice more mature than his or Tessai's.

"How old are **you**?" Yoruichi countered haughtily.

"Ten and a half."

"Really?"

"You?" Kisuke crossed his arms over his narrow chest.

"We're the same age," Yoruichi glanced over to the first glowy traces of the other boy's path. "You really haven't been here long either."

"Here?"

Yoruichi moved away from the boy, her mood to talk waning as she thought about the major difference between the two of them. Nobility born in Soul Society and a soul _Konsoed_ here just when his life was beginning in the World of the Living.

She wasn't sure if he knew what it meant to be here and she didn't want to educate him. "I'll come back tomorrow...You can tell your friend you're smart enough to stay out of _Seireitei_."

"You're leaving?"

"You don't need me-"

"But I...Do you have to get back to the palace?"

"No!" Yoruichi said before thinking, guided by the part of her that drove her to escape the palace, rebelled at the idea of having to be trapped there. "I mean...the...the princess will miss me, but she knows I have to stretch my legs."

"Stretch 'em while we find Tessai," He pleaded, the bright curiosity in his green eyes called to her own.

A question for a question.

The only other person she'd known to dream was Ryūken, who didn't want anyone to know. She hadn't met anyone else that could, and no one she knew, knew anyone.

"You just want to ask me countless questions," She repeated, but turned and started to follow Tessai's trail. "Only if you reciprocate."

"Huh?" Kisuke moved to walk beside her and she glanced up at him.

"I get to ask questions too."

"All right!" He startled her with the adamant shout of agreement. She looked up to see how bright his face had become, the clean tracks through the dirt on his face was now the only proof of his earlier sorrow. "Back and forth?"

Yoruichi shook her head at the excited suggestion. "I don't care as long as you answer all of **my** questions."

"If I **have** to answer yours, you have to answer mine."

"I don't think so," Yoruichi couldn't help the regal tilt to her head, of course at her size it seemed like she was looking up at him.

She knew he would still want to ask questions since she still did. "I don't have any secrets..."

"Then you shouldn't worry about it; am I not allowed to have secrets?"

A low bark of laughter escaped the boy, "You really sound like you grew up in a palace with a princess."

"I should hope so!" Yoruichi growled, not understanding why that needed reminding, or why he said it like it was bad thing.

They moved together quietly and both of them wondered if the other was going to be absolutely truthful with their answers. "That glow..."

"My spiritual energy?" At the boy's curious, but totally confused expression she continued. "What you track Tessai-kun with. It surrounds me like a cloud?"

"Yes!"

"That's my spiritual energy," Yoruichi nodded and glanced up at the boy, wishing to have the freedom to change to her human shape, to be eye-to-eye with the boy while talking. "My _reiatsu_...I have it because I'm noble, I was given a lot of it from my parents, who have lots of it...it's why the Shihōin are of the noble houses."

"Well-" Kisuke tried to remember this divergence from his original topic, because he couldn't bear not to ask. "Why isn't Tessai in a noble house?"

"He wasn't born in Soul Society."

"Born..." His eyebrows tucked down into a perplexed scowl Yoruichi thought was cute. "What's the difference?"

"That's a complicated idea," Yoruichi grumbled.

"You don't think I'd understand it?"

"No," She answered right away, knowing he was bright enough. "I wouldn't want to garble my information, Ryū-kun-" She quickly closed her mouth but she should have known he wouldn't let that go without question.

"Human or beastie?"

"Human," Yoruichi sniffed, not sure if she should be offended by being referred to as a, "beastie."

"Ah," He seemed to understand that she was getting close to off-limits information. "A friend?"

"Yes!" She cringed, her ears flattening down as she realized she'd sounded quite passionate, accidentally conveying just how dear a friend Ryūken was. "I have a scroll about _reiatsu_..." She tried to distract him with but realized she probably couldn't manage that particular scroll in her kitty form. That particular scroll was heavy.

"I'd love to see it, but I promised not to sneak into the _Seireitei_," Kisuke rolled his eyes and was pleased when that earned him a chuckle from the kitten.

"Sneak!" Yoruichi surprised him with the part of his statement that made her laugh. "You may have mastered masking your _reiatsu_ but what do **you **know about sneaking?"

"I don't suppose I could match Oh Great _Koneko_-sama," Kisuke answered, the grin on his face out of place with the humble words. "We can play hide and seek if you want."

The challenge in his tone had Yoruichi biting her tongue and instead reminding him, "We have the find your friend."

"Maybe later then," Kisuke felt curiosity anew reigniting the other questions inside. "The _reiatsu_," He tried the word out on his tongue. "Why do you think I...have it?"

"You can sense it," Yoruichi said with a tone that suggested it should be an obvious answer.

"I can feel it...like prickles if I touch it and I can see it," He explained.

"No you can't," Yoruichi said simply.

"Um, I'm pretty sure I can-"

"No, I mean nobody can **see** it," Yoruichi began. "Not with your normal eyes anyway."

"What kinda eyes?"

Yoruichi could see the almost radiant curiosity on his face, his movements becoming much more animated. "The glow you think you see is seen with your _reiatsu_...with **its** eyes."

"I don't have-"

"Yes, you do," Yoruichi yowled as her ire sparked. "You just know how to keep it hidden well; my senses are still being trained."

Kisuke wondered if the cat knew he'd just implied that he did something better than the snooty kitten, if she meant that she couldn't see-sense-his supposed _reiatsu_. "How could I do that without knowing? I didn't know I had it, and I've never had any training, ever!"

Yoruichi didn't want to talk about that, she only knew things about her spiritual energy because of Ryūken and occasional encouraging comments from Kentestu that lead to questioning sessions much like the one she was currently engaged in. "Dumb luck?"

They were quiet for a long time, long enough for her to feel like she should apologize for saying he was dumb. She wanted to know more about the boy, even if she knew it was foolish to let people know about this other shape. Who would he tell though?

Somehow he and his friend had avoided stray hollows camping out in the wilds. She had started this tête-à-tête to learn about someone else's dreams, but other questions started to pop up, questions she really had no place wondering...or she shouldn't, she shouldn't even care!

"Where do you live?"

The boy was stunned quiet for a few moments before shrugging, "Nowhere really. We camp in the forest mostly; Tessai tries to keep us out of the rougher districts of _Rukongai_, so...wherever we can scrounge for food really."

Pretending to orient herself with a sniff to the ground, Yoruichi hid her frown, her ears tilting outward displeased. People with any above average level of spiritual energy needed food; people like Tessai needed lots of food, regularly.

Somehow he seemed to understand her surge of silent contemplation. "We've been scraping along for a handful of years together."

"I don't care," She said defensively and moved faster over the ground, putting space between them as her senses told her they were getting to the end of their journey. How had she started the day out wanting to fight the boy and ended up befriending him to the point where she worried for his welfare. "He's just up ahead."

Kisuke fell behind, dragging his feet, since he was sure the kitten would leave once he was reunited with Tessai. He had been thinking he should learn how to take care of himself; it had been scary when Tessai had told him he was traveling away from the shining _Seireitei_, with or without his younger friend. Even if he was pretty sure he could continue to fight to live without him, there had never been time in their travels for him to find someone else. He'd be alone for the first time.

All he had was Tessai, and if the fight of earlier was any indication the older lad was tired of the constant questions that spurted forth even when his partner had run out of his meager supply of answers.

"Hurry up!" Yoruichi shouted, turning back to see that the boy had stopped walking altogether. She growled and moved back to sit in front of the boy's feet, glaring up at him. "He's sleeping just over here in the trees."

"You're going to come back tomorrow?"

"Where?" Yoruichi thought to ask, the boy's had no permanent home.

"W-we'll camp just outside the _Seireitei_," Kisuke offered. "We can walk you back and before you leave we can show you where to meet up with us tomorrow?"

"All right," Yoruichi almost slapped herself, at least the feline form kept her from doing it. It was true she wanted to see the boy again, but...well why not? She was friends with Ryūken why couldn't she be friends with..._Oh no! No!_

Kisuke watched the furry face change from one expression to the other, it had taken him some time but he was starting to see the slight changes in the dark kitten's tiny face. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing!" She looked away when her voice came out higher than usual, flustered by the sudden feeling of friendship she had found developing between them. Why this dirty, malnourished boy? She had met plenty of children her age that..._That what Yoru? _She asked herself. _You know all of those spoiled brats don't have enough character combined in comparison to this kid._

"I'll go wake up Tessai. Don't leave yet, all right?" Kisuke took the cat by surprise by crouching down to scoop her up, a hand under each of her front legs, her lower half dangling as he lifted her to eye-level. "Don't go anywhere please?"

"Put. Me. Down. Now," She managed to get out past the angry hiss.

Kisuke's eyes went wide in shock before he gently put her back down and stood. "I'll be right back!" He called as he ran over toward where he sensed his friend was hiding asleep.

Yoruichi watched after him and gave her small body a shake. After a few licks she'd smoothed anything he managed to ruffle her eyes watching as the boys exchanged words. Tessai didn't look happy, and none of the words spilling out of the gasping Kisuke seemed to make it any better. She resisted the impulse to sneak closer and eavesdrop; she was a princess and that was uncouth.

Whatever they were discussing soon got loud enough for her to hear even while she was trying her best not to listen. She resisted trying, since the argument was still unintelligible at this point. She could feel the intent of the larger boy's _reiatsu_ start to change, from something friendly, to something less so. Kisuke's unflustered countenance didn't change, even if it seemed he was getting upset, not a single sign of _reiatsu_.

Maybe he was right? Yoruichi wasn't very good at getting past what others put up to guard themselves from other's spiritual pressure. She would have to ask Ryūken if it was possible for someone to do what Kisuke suggested he was able to do, **see** _reiatsu_.

A shiver ran down her spine all the way to tip of her tail as the intent of the peaceful older boy became something worth worrying over. She quickly stood and made her way to the two boys, Tessai on his feet and moving closer and closer into the smaller boy's personal space. As she finally started hearing their conversation she started to _shunpo_.

"...so you can go ahead and choose!" Tessai was shouting as she made out what he was shouting at the suddenly timid child before him.

Yoruichi stopped a few feet away as she watched Kisuke's timid posture straightened and his face adopted an infuriated scowl. She couldn't sense the intent of his _reiatsu_-couldn't even find an ounce of it at all-but she could see it in the new set of his shoulders. Then the smaller boy was walking toward her, the shocked look on his friend's face distracting enough for Yoruichi that Kisuke had to reach down and touch her to catch her attention.

"Let's go," He whispered.

The distress in the boy's voice urged Yoruichi not to argue and she moved closer to lift her front legs, pressing her paws into his leg. She didn't know what she was trying to convey to Kisuke until he carefully picked her up in his arms and cradled her securely as he took them back the way they'd come without his companion.

"What's wrong?" Yoruichi asked as she managed to peek back at the older boy, who was staring after Kisuke like he was a stranger, doing unexpected things.

"He told me to pick between my curiosity and him," Kisuke muttered, the words soggy with the tears he seemed to be refusing to spill.

"Urahara-kun you friend-"

"He's being unreasonable!" A whine lifted the boy's voice as he refused to look back at Tessai. "I told him we could leave after I was done asking you questions, but he wants to leave **now**!" He spit out the last word like acid. "He said he's catered to my bizarrely high level of curiosity long enough."

Yoruichi made herself relax in the boy's arms, one of his hands absentmindedly stroking under her chin, making her purr. Was this the same boy she had found crying alone in the forest earlier, voluntarily putting himself back into the situation that had caused him to break down before? "How will you survive?"

"I can take care of myself _Koneko-_sama," Kisuke assured her. "Tessai taught me everything he knew."

"But he's your friend," She blurted out before she thought over her words.

"He's not acting like one right now," Kisuke argued.

Although she didn't know the boy as well as the older boy that had known him years, but she could see that those deep green eyes wouldn't look the same without curiosity shining like an inner light in them. To ask him to stop being curious would be tantamount to asking him to stop breathing. He would die.

The trip back toward the _Seireitei_ was much quieter than before, but Yoruichi was positive it wasn't because the boy was no longer curious about her. As she thought about fighting with Ryūken and having to chose between something integral to her character and his companionship. Like her cat form. Or her mischievous streak. Sure she could behave if she had to, but if left to her own devices she couldn't fight her own nature. Maybe she would mature out of it, but she was pretty sure she would always be strong-willed and impish.

After they reached the halfway point of the trek back toward the center of Soul Society Yoruichi couldn't keep herself quiet. She was relaxed and comfortable in the close warmth of Kisuke's arms but knew that curiosity was practically vibrating through the boy.

It was as good a time as any to lessen her curiosity.

"What do you dream of?"

"The jungle," Kisuke answered after a few moments, like when she had started to answer his questions, contemplating how to sate the question as concisely as possible.

"Jungle?" Yoruichi prompted; irritated that he would treat her to behavior he himself didn't appreciate. The two word response only made a dozen more questions sprout to life in her mind. Had he traveled so far that he had encountered jungle? Otherwise how did he know to dream...?

"It's always the jungle, endless, like there's nothing else in the world-" Kisuke grunted as Yoruichi's claws dug into his arm. "_Koneko_-sama?"

Panic filled the small kitten as she caught sight of a familiar pale-haired boy walking toward them. They weren't far now from the _Seireitei_ and it seemed as though Ryūken had gotten tired of waiting for her. Or maybe something had happened at home? Yoruichi took advantage of the boy's slack arms and escaped. "I'll see you tomorrow," She meowed as she started away, before he could notice the other boy.

"But-"

"I have to go!" Yoruichi tried to say calmly, but this was like both of her lives running into each other. Who knew what Ryūken might say to give away her identity; Kisuke was smart enough to put a few scraps together to make an educated guess.

"Ah..." Kisuke looked flustered a few moments before he nodded. "Our old camp wasn't far from where you found me today."

"All right I'll meet you there!" Yoruichi called as she quickly _shunpoed_ away.

Kisuke watched after the cat, his senses helping him to keep track of her even as she disappeared from view over and over again. He slowly followed the direction she had rushed off to.

_Who..._He bit his bottom lip as he caught sight of a stranger, a boy that couldn't be more than a few months older or younger than he. He didn't look like he was waiting for anyone, but walking in a determined direction, until the small dark shape of Yoruichi reached him and leap up into his surprised arms. Maybe the mysterious Ryū-kun?

Curiosity blazed up inside the small boy like a star.


	6. A Crimson and Gold Maze

A Crimson and Gold Maze

Yoruichi always dreamt about a palace. Not the noble Shihōin palace but a beautiful mammoth thing of crimson and gold marble.

She'd been dreaming longer than she'd had the ability-well been aware of its existence-to become a cat, as long as she had solid memories almost seven years. For almost every night of those seven years Yoruichi explored every room she could. There were still locked rooms and hallways she hadn't gotten to yet proving to her that the dream palace was endless.

It was at the entrance of the tiniest of passageways where she'd first thought to shift forms. She'd had no specific shape to achieve, just a size to aim for. And wonder of wonders, somehow it had worked outside of dreams. Begging the question, had the dream just given her the idea, had she always had the ability?

Sometimes being the only Shihōin left was inconvenient as well as lonely.

Recently she'd started finding previously locked doors now open. And last night there had been scary scratching noises.

As she dreamt in Ryūken's arms they carried her back across _Rukongai_ to the palace, and she used the time to seek out the sound's source. Her heart hammered a fearful tune in her chest as she searched but she wouldn't bow to the emotion. The only thing to go from dream to waking was the shape-changing, no monster could hurt her; she could always wake up.

And because this was a dream she didn't hesitate to repeat that reassuring mantra before gathering her Shihōin courage to open every door and turning any corner. No one would know of this weakness she was succumbing to every few minutes, she was always alone in her dreams.

She found the door she was sure was the last barrier to the noise and as she lifted her hand to the handle she squeezed her eyes closed. "It's my dream..." She whispered encouragingly to herself when the sound stopped.

Before she could even open her eyes a terse voice came to her ears. "Yoru-chan you've been sleeping this whole time I was talking!"

Ryūken hissed in pain when Yoruichi awoke in surprise-on defense-which meant claws out in feline form. "Ack!" He growled and instead of dropping her to the ground he squeezed her close until she woke up all the way and declawed.

"Sorry, you can put me down!" Yoruichi wailed, filled with guilt.

"Were you having a nightmare?"

"No," Yoruichi answered stiffly. The only thing Ryūken had rudely and harshly informed her he didn't speak of-besides his family-was his dreams. "You were saying something while I nodded off?"

"Kentestu offered to mentor me so I could become a guard," Ryūken grumbled. The original rendition of the events that had occurred while she was outside the palace had included the entire interlude in the princess's courtyard, including the old warrior's motives. With the time left in their journey back to the palace he could only give her the gist of it the second time around.

Jealousy curled in her body but she made sure to keep it contained, again happy at the unnoticed expressions on her tiny face. "That's good Ryū-kun!" She cuddled into his arms. "When you get older you can join _Onmitsukidō_!"

The boy remained silent since they were within earshot of the side gate. _Keishu and _Boyaku glared at him but didn't notice the black ball curled in his arms, half-hidden in his _haori_.

Yoruichi started to fidget as he carried her through her courtyard silently. She wanted to know what else had happened, she knew he wasn't going to say anything because she'd fallen asleep on him when he'd tried the first time.

"Geboku was looking for you, I sent her on a goose chase," Ryūken crouched down to deposit her on one of the pillows arranged around her table. "You should have a few minutes to change."

With a soft growl Yoruichi watched him turn to leave. "Then you have time to tell me your answer to Kentetsu!"

"I'll be back when Geboku leaves," Ryūken answered without turning, something in his voice propelling Yoruichi after his slim form.

"Are you okay Ryū-kun?" She meowed softly. It was moments like these that she wished Ryūken didn't keep his _reiatsu_ so close to his chest. She wasn't sure she would be able to tell when he **did** relax his hold since she'd never had the opportunity to feel it; she was sure she wouldn't even recognize it.

He was like Kisuke, in that he was able to completely hide his spiritual energy. She definitely needed to hone her _reiatsu_ detecting skills.

"Yoruichi-_hime_?"

With a soft curse Yoruichi peeked into her room to see Geboku wasn't yet past the inner sitting room, while she was looking Ryūken made his exit. She _shunpoed_ across her room to her closet and quickly made herself presentable.

"Yoruichi-_hime_!" Geboku must have been looking for her longer than Ryūken thought because her voice was already worried.

If one could _shunpo_ into clothes she could, the simple _yukata_ helped to speed up the process as well. "Gebo-chan!" She sang as she exited the closet in time to vault onto her bed before Geboku appeared at her door.

"Where have you been Yoruichi-_hime_?" Geboku chastised. "Ryūken-kun said you were in the royal orchard."

Yoruichi giggled, "I was."

"Yoruichi-_hime-_"

"I was in a tree in the orchard," She watched Geboku bow her head.

"I was sent by Furui-san, who wishes to have a few words with you. Allow me to escort you," She moved to disappear into the closet returning with a _kimono_.

"I can make it alone thank you," Yoruichi let her put on the thicker _kimono_.

If she hadn't gone missing so much Geboku would have heeded the assertive tone of her statement and left without a word. Instead she shook her head, "Furui-san told me I had to make sure you arrived personally."

"I will make it in one piece, I promise," She had gotten her daily excursion out of the way already.

"_Sumimasen_-"

"Tch," Yoruichi threw her hands up and started out to her outer sitting room, toward her garden. "I'm going this way."

"Furui-san is not in his office," Geboku called but she didn't take chase soon enough. She was tripping through the _shoji_ door to the garden where Yoruichi was already hidden in some thorny shrub having ditched her clothes behind a rock. "Yoruichi-_hime_!"

With her attuned kitty ears she heard the collision of two people. She took a peek out to see Geboku sprawled on the ground in a nasty pile with Ryūken. She saw him glance up and straight to where she was hidden in the brush and she hissed, that boy and his distractions!

Quickly she _shunpoed_ to her clothes before shifting, now she was slower-something she swore she would rectify-but large enough to carry the cumbersome _kimono_ inside. She kept moving as she started tugging on her clothes. She was in the inner chamber by the time she finished by cramming her tiny feet into slippers.

"Hurry!" Ryūken took her by surprise as his arm curled into hers. They practically floated over the ground, they made no sound.

Once out of earshot Yoruichi giggled as she let Ryūken lead her to a small hallway far removed from any Geboku would be looking in. She threw her arms around him until he was wheezing protest.

"That was brilliant Ryū-kun!" She pressed quick kiss to his cheek only to watch said cheek turn a vibrant red. Her heart jumped into her throat as she realized what she had just done, and she followed it up with a quick jab to his upper arm. "Now tell me!" She growled.

"Yoru-_hime_-"

Yoruichi didn't let him put a more formal space between them, even though she could feel the tension in his muscles. She held his arm in hers, her other fingers firmly around his wrist. "Here we go, to _Jiji_-san's private quarters. Now talk, I want to have an idea of what I'm headed for."

Ryūken glanced around the hall they were in. "I'm shamed to admit to not knowing all the ins and outs of the palace like you."

"That's why I'm here," She admonished giving his arm a squeeze, an arm he hadn't relaxed yet. "Now, talk!"

"Only...Only if you tell me about that boy," Ryūken made himself say.

"Boy?" Yoruichi felt a little guilty, the words she'd had for Kisuke hadn't been pretty the last time she'd voiced her opinion to Ryūken. "He seems nice actually, I think he has a bit of spiritual energy but he hides it as well as you do."

"He was born in Soul Society?"

"Um," Yoruichi shook her head softly. "I don't think so at least."

"You're going to see him tomorrow."

Yoruichi hesitated before answering, mostly because of the way the boy had stated the words, not asking, and stiff and indifferent like he probably wished he could be now with a formal physical distance. She was sure her cheeks were blushing about the stupid cheek kiss and she was glad she had darker skin, not like Ryūken's pale skin that sported even the faintest of blushes like roses. "I promised him I would."

"Why would you promise a stranger something?"

"He," She bit her bottom lip and moved her eyes to look around as if figuring out where to go next when she wanted to keep her face away from his, resisting the urge to give him that formal space, so that she could stop feeling...guilty? Why did she feel guilty? "He was going to try to enter not only the _Seireitei_, but the palace-"

"How?" Ryūken scoffed.

"I didn't want him to try at all; I didn't care for his methods!" Yoruichi frowned. "He said he wouldn't come close to the _Seireitei_ again if I went to answer all his questions tomorrow."

"And?"

She was worried to find they had stopped in a small alcove off an even smaller back hallway. "I don't know what you're getting at."

"Are you going to go spend time with him when you leave the palace?" Ryūken was surprised to find he was suddenly struck with the urge to tell her secret, take that escape from his friend. He knew it would hurt her, and she would stop talking to him. If she found out he had done it. _What are you thinking?_

"As soon as I tell him everything he wants to know he's gonna leave," Yoruichi murmured with a reassuring half hug, and she realized he had relaxed because at her hug he went tense again. "Don't worry," She murmured. "Even if I find interesting acquaintances, you are my best friend."

"Interesting?" Ryūken scowled in irritation even though his heart was buoyed by her affirmation.

"Yes, I told you...you'd like him," She looked around the hallway and he didn't take the prompt to continue walking. "No one is going to separate us Ryū-kun, I won't let 'em."

"But..." He surprised her when he curled his arms tighter around hers in his own type of hug and he started to tug her down the hallway and she plodded along with him as he tried to gather the words he needed. "Furui-san is trying to separate us."

Yoruichi cried an objection but then Ryūken told her of the long and **loud** speech Kentestu had given the staff of the palace. She couldn't keep the anger from her eyes and Ryūken took notice.

"I said the only way I would even pretend to be fooled by his shell of a scheme was if he allowed you to join with me," Ryūken finally revealed and she gasped.

"He said no," Yoruichi had no doubt.

"But now he wants to talk to you," Ryūken whispered as they entered one of the larger main hallways and entered the wing that held Kentetsu's modest quarters.

"And?"

"He's trying to get me away from you."

Yoruichi shook her head as they stopped within sight of Kentestu's quarters, lowering her voice to a whisper. "You are so sure that he is trying to steal you away with promises of training, training you don't even want. If you think he's called me here to talk so he can try something on me don't worry...arrogant Quincy!"

"He might offer to train you."

"That," Yoruichi looked over toward the unmarked door; no one would know it belonged to anyone important. "That would be a cooperative miracle work of _kami_ and my _Okaasan._" She turned and took him by surprise when she threw her arms around him and hugged him, her chin just high enough to rest on his shoulder as she whispered, "But it wouldn't be enough to separate us, not for long anyhow."

Ryūken gave a soft sigh and let his arms come around to hug her back. He had been thinking over Kentestu's offer and how he might be able to get what he wanted with the appearance of giving Kentestu what he wanted. "It means I'll have to stop taking care of your courtyard."

"Atsuryoku has hired three assistants since you started taking care of the garden," Yoruichi pulled back a little and met his soft brown eyes, the reflection of the nearby lamp on his glasses obscuring one eye. "Think about what we could learn!"

Suddenly Ryūken's body went tense and Yoruichi was worried a moment that he might have realized how close they were, but then in the silence she heard footsteps. "I'll wait for you."

"I'll see you in the garden," Yoruichi pulled back and started quickly toward the door, even as it started to open. She glanced back but the boy was nowhere in sight as Kentestu looked around before he looked down to see her at his doorstep.

"Shihōin-chan," The relief on Kentestu's face was obvious even to Yoruichi and she gave him a bright grin. "Where is Geboku-chan?"

"She just left," Yoruichi glanced over toward where Ryūken had just been standing and he nodded. "What did you want to talk about _Jiji_-san?"

"Come inside," Kentestu murmured with a serious expression on his face, usually she didn't want to be anywhere near him when he had such a look. "Have you talked to Ryūken today?"

As the door thudded ominously shut Yoruichi made herself move across the room to flop down on the pillows piled around a short-legged table, already set for tea. "A little bit."

"Did he tell you about the offer I made him?" Kentestu moved after her and sat across from her at the table. "Tea?"

Yoruichi nodded and stood to lean over the table. She stopped with her fingers curled around the wooden handle of the pot, "Shall I pour _Jiji_-san?"

"Shihōin-chan," Kentestu gave a cluck of his tongue as he shook his head reproachfully. "If you so wish."

She reminded herself not to show how anxious she was as she met Kentestu's dark wrinkled gaze. She recalled one of the few frustrated outbursts Ryūken had chastised her with during their friendship. '_A princess doesn't pour tea for their inferiors!_' She had always wondered if such a strict code of behavior was a trait born to all Quincy.

Yoruichi frowned as she quickly poured two cups of tea and then found herself sitting mutely looking down at the steaming liquid without drinking it the sting of Ryūken using such a word in reference to himself hadn't lessened with time. "He also told me about the counteroffer."

Kentetsu closed his eyes and nodded, "If only Shihōin-chan-"

"Why not?"

"My Lady we have been over this," Kentetsu protested.

"Not in so many words actually," Yoruichi argued as she curled the tip of her finger over the brim of her cup to test the liquid's temperature.

"Well," Kentetsu's back straightened, as if he were steeling himself for something. "I have asked Shihōin-sama and he has strictly forbidden passing down the Shihōin style, at least at your current age."

Her mind had been mulling over the information she had gotten in the last few minutes from Ryūken and now at Kentestu's words she found her first question. "You were going to teach Ryū-kun the family style?"

"No, but-"

"Then what is the problem?"

Kentetsu shook his head and expelled a frustrated huff of breath. "Princess I do not split hairs."

"You don't split hairs when you fear getting caught," Yoruichi shot back and she saw the fury that the old warrior reigned back so she held back the smug smile. His reaction told her that she had spoken truth. "I have a counteroffer _Jiji_-san."


	7. A OneArmed Kūku

A/N: Just a small one to mention some of the Japanese words used in the following chapter, just in case my readers don't have a Japanese/English dictionary bookmarked for easy reference. _Sakkat_ - A rustic hat knit from rough reeds and bamboos that shields against the rain & the glare of the sun (u might recognize it, since it's the chosen headgear of the 8th division taichō [& no the person wearing it isn't **that **taichō]), _shodo - _Japanese calligraphy, _Chotto - _Hey!/Wait a moment!

* * *

A One-Armed Kūku

Kisuke's frown-he was sure-had to be permanently etched on his face by mid-morning the next day. The fire he'd spent considerable time and **effort** (he was still sore!) to make last night had gone out. His dreams had been an odd and occupying affair consisting of searching a few rooms of the richly appointed palace (with no one to live in them) and getting frustrated by locked doors; he managed to exhaust every twist and turn available before he woke up. Without Tessai to remember to wake up and keep it lit, the fire had died in the night while he tried to get past the doors into the inner rooms of the jungle palace of his dreams.

Also Tessai had recently taught himself to use his-_reiatsu_... (hhmm, it sounded neat, rolled off the tongue) -to light the kindling on fire. Needless to say, Kisuke was out of practice making fires, so waking up to see even the embers dead had contributed to most of the frown.

And he didn't like being alone.

Of any knowledge he secretly craved, it was that of people and their behavior that burned the most passionate inside. It was only so fun to explore oneself, he looked like any other boy...and a little different than a girl. He knew his mind, how he reacted.

He had observed that all minds were different. He had learned more about himself when comparing things he'd observed in the older boy to himself.

After the way his friend had treated Kisuke yesterday the need to see the older boy had lessened almost to nonexistence. Of course in the face of his curiosity over _Koneko_-sama Tessai's presence-or rather lack there of-wasn't really much of a problem.

"You really should have shown up by now," Kisuke muttered to the absent talking cat, his eyes trailing to the dead fire pit bitterly as he crossed the campsite to retrieve the flint he'd just hurled.

"Can't trust humans or cats apparently...great place this Soul Society...Crummy..." He found the small stone after a few moments and trudged back to his make-shift bed. He couldn't quite get how Tessai arranged the damned fern fronds to make them so comfortable, Kisuke was amazed he'd slept through the night.

"There you are."

Kisuke froze as the strange pale-haired boy caught his attention on the edge of the clearing. "You must be Ryū-kun."

"Ryūken. Where is..." Ryūken's gaze skimmed over the ground and Kisuke moved closer.

"_Koneko-_sama?" Kisuke offered. "He hasn't shown up yet." Kisuke watched something, almost a twitch of the corner of Ryūken's lips, a smile on this stiff human friend of a talking cat?

"Ahem," Ryūken coughed and fixed Kisuke with a withering glare that rolled right off the aura of curiosity he used to get across things like social niceties, namely being polite to strangers. "**He** should already have been here an hour ago."

Kisuke's eyes went wide and he felt his curiosity over the boy's odd stress on "he" spill out of his ear as worry swelled to replace it. "How do you know?"

"I followed-herm-" Another cough. "-his trail here; I waited an hour before I followed," Ryūken watched the boy warily, Yoruichi was right, he didn't seem to have any spiritual pressure but there was something about him. _Unless it's hidden well, might even be hidden from **him** still._

"So you have _reiatsu_ too then," Kisuke guessed hopefully. He kept his eyes on his face trying to figure out his expressions, no matter how minute-like _Koneko-_sama-Kisuke was proud of his ability to catch them all.

_I see what you mean Yoru-chan_, Ryūken thought to himself. "You can sense it?"

"I can **see **it, but not if you hide it," Kisuke shrugged. "_Koneko-_sama must have skipped his way here if you could track him so easily."

"Skipped?" One of Ryūken's almost invisible eyebrows tilted upward, as he tried to ignore the implications of the words "track him so easily." "Do you mean _hirenkyaku_?" Ryūken almost laughed as he actually saw the sharp curiosity light the boy up from the inside at the foreign word. "I mean _shunpo_?"

"_Shunpo_?"

"Flash step," Ryūken murmured and only just remembered not to go on to mention Yoruichi's mother and her unofficial title of, "Queen of Flash." "I don't have the time to explain. Now, if you don't know where Shihōin-sama has gone, I am done here."

"I left camp about an hour ago, but it was only for a few minutes. Nothing was disturbed when I returned," Kisuke informed him. "Have you walked around the clearing to pick up his trail again?" He asked as he began to focus on his ability to see spiritual pressure.

"Of course," Ryūken sighed and did so for the third time, only slower. "Your friend, he doesn't know how to keep it to himself, he's everywhere."

"His is pretty faded by now," Kisuke switched on his ability and eyed the mess the campsite had become. A mix of _Koneko_-sama and traces of Tessai... "That isn't Tessai-san! That's a fifth seat _shinigami_ I met the other day."

Delightfully surprised Kisuke watched the furious snarling scowl that curled over the arrogant aloof face for only a moment. "_Teme_..._ Shinigami..._" Hissed from the boy's pale lips before they smoothed into a displeased frown. Well it was the same aloof expression only Kisuke saw the slight differences he'd already observed and filed away. "Excuse me."

"Whoa! Wait!" Kisuke hollered out startled as the boy turned and left the clearing. He hurried after him, glad he had nothing to leave behind but the flint rocks in his pockets. "If _Koneko-_sama has been harmed because of a kindness to me know Ryūken-sama I **will** help find him."

"Not me you don't," Ryūken said bluntly when he saw the determination in Kisuke's eyes. They slowly moved together through the woods, although it was more Ryūken walking with his nose in the air and Kisuke examining the trail the fifth seat had left behind. They moved steadily toward the _Seireitei_ following the _shinigami's_ _reiatsu_ until it seemed to disappear.

Kisuke watched the boy as he continued to examine the ground as they walked. He wanted to applaud how causal Ryūken made his path seem.

Knowing if he didn't bite his tongue his questions might lose his only safe way to get into the _Seireitei_-maybe even the palace-Kisuke only just managed to stick to a query that centered on their mutual mission. "What happens when his trail becomes so faint you can no longer sense it?"

It seemed like he was going to ignore the question but then Kisuke realized he was trying to figure out the answer himself. "I might try Kūku-chan..." He let his gaze flicker over toward the slightly shorter boy, who seemed to be trying to glare the trail of _reiatsu_ visual. As the Quincy had expected the quietly muttered words had caught his attention, and Ryūken bit back a grin as he saw Kisuke open his mouth to talk and then almost as quickly shut it to silence himself.

Kūkaku Shiba was the closest thing to a family friend that Yoruichi had. She was one of the handful of noble children born into this generation and-had she a safer hobby-she might have become Yoruichi's best friend instead of Ryūken.

According to Geboku, Yoruichi would have been betrothed to the eldest Shiba if Shihōin-sama hadn't put his foot down shortly after Lady Shihōin's death. Surprisingly the family's penchant for things that explode had alerted his already on edge protective senses. Especially when it got around the noble houses that Kūkaku had blown her arm off.

Ryūken's first reaction to accepting help from Kisuke-who he couldn't help but see as an adversary-had been scorn. He realized it was a lot like the kneejerk reaction the nobles had to him and he stopped glowering at the kid. Yoruichi had told him they would probably get along, and Ryūken knew that if the princess had given this urchin a chance he should. Yoruichi and this Kisuke undoubtedly had a common streak of curiosity through their souls.

How to get such an obvious _Rukongai_ citizen into _Seireitei_ was the plan bubbling in Ryūken's brain as he lazily tracked the fifth seat's _reiatsu_. The _shinigami_ had tried to hide his spiritual signature but he wasn't quite good enough to snuff it all out. Ryūken forcibly redirected his thoughts from the idea of the _shinigami_ and back to the boy beside him and getting him past the guards. The Gatekeeper here was a lazy _shinigami_ that took anyone that went in at face value, the clothes on their backs, etc.

It was taken out of their hands because as they approached the now-invisible boundary between the _Seireitei_ and _Rukongai_ a large caravan from the outlying low district farms had just started past the Gatekeeper, who was laying in the grass _Rukongai_-side his _shihakushō_ in lazy disarray, face hidden underneath what looked like a pale white straw _sakkat._

"Hurry," Ryūken reached over and took a firm grip on the scrawny boy's arm, surprised at how easy it was to feel bone. He was worried a moment when the boy tripped on the uneven dirt, but as Ryūken hissed and gave his arm a jerk Kisuke got back to his feet and practically flew. The Quincy gave a grunt of surprise and quickly swung his eyes over toward the snoozing _shinigami_ before his view was obscured by one of the large wagons.

As soon as they were blocked from view they slowed to keep with the wagon until they could slip into a small alleyway. Kisuke kept his gaze on Ryūken as he released him and moved down the short alley to see if there was anyone nearby. "Since the Gatekeeper didn't see you we should be safe from the _Onmitsukidō_, but just in case, keep an eye out from anyone dressed in all black," He put his fingers over his eyes and peered out between them like a mask. "With cowls over their faces."

Kisuke's heart was beating so hard, he pressed the palm of his hand to his chest to feel it thrum against his hand. He was here, inside without anyone the wiser! While Ryūken looked around at the mouth of the alley Kisuke moved toward the other end and peered out, eyes devouring everything he could see from his vantage point.

"All right we should-Hey! Urahara!" Ryūken barked and had to smother a smile as the grimy boy jumped a foot, spun around and ran to his side.

"Sorry!" He whispered his voice still breathless and excited, eyes bright.

"Just..." Ryūken tried not to be affected by the boy's enthusiasm; he shook his head softly in disbelief at his own childishness his fine pale hair getting caught in his glasses, shielding his eyes until he combed his fingers through it. "Stay close all right?" Ryūken chastised as he moved out of the alley and in the direction of the Shiba _shouten_, the only way to get in touch with Kūkaku since her eccentric parents moved their home all over, never in the same part of _Seireitei_ twice.

"Do you mind if I ask where we're going? I can't see the _shinigami's_ trail anymore, are we still following it?" Kisuke kept his eyes on the boy between wide sweeps of his surroundings. Yes they were new and shiny, but above everything, Kisuke liked to figure out how people ticked. He didn't get to be around very many people for longer than a few words, and obviously Tessai had reached the maximum amount of time being pestered by the younger boy.

They were walking along the inside bank of a canal, large solid built structures on both sides. "We're going to meet Kūkaku Shiba, some of her family are _shinigami_," Ryūken explained concisely as he glanced over his shoulder yet again to catch the boy gawking. Kisuke had already turned to avoid his gaze a few times; still the Quincy hadn't felt his eyes boring holes into the back of his head.

"You don't like _shinigami_ do you?" Kisuke murmured when he didn't seem irritated about the other questions. It wasn't the hottest burning question, but the freshest.

"Not really."

**There** was the irritation, but Kisuke suspected it was for the topic, not the inquisitive Kisuke (how could **that** be?!) so... "Is _Koneko-_sama yours?"

Although Ryūken was aware that Kisuke didn't know Yoruichi was a girl, or a princess, the question still threw him for a loop. "N-no!" He suddenly wished that he hadn't fallen back a few steps to walk even with the astute boy. For some reason the question had struck him as totally inappropriate and...

"Heh," Kisuke grinned as he saw the blush heat the Quincy's face. "Watcha blushin' like that for?"

"Shut. Up." Ryūken hissed and tired to keep his eyes out for the _shouten_ but Kisuke was on a roll, the first question had only started a snowball downhill. He didn't give verbal answers but he'd dealt sufficiently with Kisuke's curiosity...egged it on even.

"He lives in the palace right?"

"Stop asking questions, Shihōin-sama told me he intended to sit for..." His eyebrows crinkled as he recalled the words she'd repeated during their late night strategizing. "'Countless questions.'"

_Oh, so no questions about Koneko-sama, shinigami, how easily it was to notice a blush..._ "You should get more sun."

Ryūken met Kisuke's eyes with a perplexed eyebrow doing its best to shape a question mark. "Be quiet or well miss the-"

"Right there," Kisuke pointed to the modest storefront, the nobles liked property value, and that mean no garish colors and eclectic decorative structures at least the ones the Shiba clan was fond of, there was a compromise in the number of large banners that plastered the front. "'Shiba Fireworks.'"

"Who taught you to read?" Ryūken muttered surprised, sort of impressed.

"Now who's got questions?" Kisuke grinned before increasing his pace.

With legs just as long Ryūken had no problem keeping up, even when it seemed Kisuke wasn't only walking fast but purposefully running. With a barely contained smile Ryūken only ran faster, his sudden gain making Kisuke laugh at the challenge and he surprised the Quincy by passing him.

"Hey! Urahara-oof!" Ryūken tried another sprint to the door, tempted to _hirenkyaku_ but somehow Kisuke found the threshold first and blocked it bodily.

Triumphantly Kisuke listened to the chortle of laughter gasping from the pale boy. He moved through the door backwards and Ryūken followed. "Next time I'm using _hirenkyaku-_" He whispered quietly the faint smile still on his face.

"How may I help you?" Came out dulcet and sugary sweet, delicate like the petals of a flower until the voice's owner saw Ryūken. "Yūk-kun!" This time there was a hard edge-hardly the same voice-not to mention drastic change in the level of ferocity.

"Kūkaku-chan," Ryuken gave a bow to the black-haired girl who was currently leaning dangerously close to what looked like a small personal cannon. Although she had only one arm, the wiry girl looked very capable of manning the weapon.

Kisuke shuffled a few feet over and out of the very front of the firearm. He didn't really know what to make of her, she was only a little younger than they were, maybe seven. Her sharp blue eyes were practically crackling with animosity and imagined-while staring at the one playing in said imagined scene-violence.

With a soft sigh Kisuke felt curiosity bloom at the girl's venom to Ryūken. "Shiba-sama?"

The harsh hot emotions peeled away for a few moments at the formal title then she glanced Kisuke's way her curiosity matching.

Then Ryūken murmured, "I'm glad you're here so I don't have to search for you too."

"Yūk-kun I had no idea you felt that way about me!" She stuck her tongue out at him, middle finger coming up to pull at her lower eyelid and Ryūken rolled his eyes. "You with this _baka_?" She asked Kisuke.

"I'm a friend of-"

"Urahara Kisuke," Ryūken interrupted and as Kūkaku turned and moved away he caught Kisuke's gaze.

Amused grin plastered to his face Kisuke got the silent murderous message, _"Stop talking! Especially about that!" _Well, then what to talk about? "Ryūken tells me you have family that are _shinigami_."

"Did he?" Kūkaku leveled her eyes back on Ryūken when she realized they were following her when she very much wanted to escaped.

"Kūkaku-chan I don't want to fight," Ryūken looked around, a few other Shibas but none that were paying them any attention. "We think Yoru's been kidnapped by a fifth seat."

Eyes widening Kūkaku considered a moment how Ryūken was handling this. "Go tell Shihōin-_jiji_."

"Kūkaku I need to find Yoru..." Ryūken growled under his breath moving into the girl's face, fingers suddenly tight around her upper arm. He tried not to yell, tried to calm himself as the girl looked up angrily to meet his eyes. Ryūken made his gaze move very pointedly toward Kisuke in warning while he wasn't paying attention to them.

Which was impossible, but Kisuke averted his gaze to give him the impression.

"Strange to be whispering about it," Kūkaku backed out of Ryūken's grip but indicated that they should follow her as she disappeared into a back room.

She took them into a smaller room, closing the door before kicking off her slippers and collapsing into a pile of pillows. "Talk then."

"Kisuke, could you...?" Ryūken turned to meet the eyes amongst the messy sandy blond hair.

"_Teme_! Ryūken-kun I have a few questions too-"

"Of course you do...I have a private matter to discuss with Kūkaku-chan," Ryūken moved to the door to push it back open. "Recall..._Koneko-_sama has promised you answers...not me." Trying to keep his expression stern Ryūken tried his best not to laugh at the childish pout Kisuke adopted.

"I'd heard Furui-_jiji_ was lowering the submission requirements for the guard but that one's kinda scrawny," Kūkaku teased as Ryūken's body went ramrod straight, his fingers curling into a fist on the frame of the door.

He and Kūkaku hated each other on a good day. Their animosity somehow grew from her pride for her _shinigami_ family, even if the girl-like Kisuke-had no clue why he disliked them so. "We have to do something fast. I know she trusts you so I..." He found himself wishing he knew one other person attached to the _shinigami_, just this once, the girl was incapable of sympathizing with him. _Even if I were to tell her why I hate them..._

"What?" Kūkaku straightened amongst the pillows. "If it is a secret of Yoru-chan's you have my word."

"I wouldn't tell you mine!" Ryūken scoffed before pausing to think. "Urahara-kun doesn't know either...She's learned how to change into a cat."

Raucous laughter echoed off the walls as Kūkaku rolled helplessly in her nest of pillows. "_Baka_! What kind of fool do you take me for?"

"I don't!" Ryūken hissed; he'd been afraid of this. "What would I have to gain-?"

"My reputation-Shiba reputation-"

"I don't want anyone to know of this! Only Yoru-chan, you and me know about her ability," Ryūken moved across to her, lowering to his knees a few feet in front of her his hands fisted tight on top of them. "I **need** to speak with Kaien-sama," He whispered lowering his head in a bow.

Kūkaku's fingers bit into his chin and forced his head up so her sharp eyes could see the pretense in the Quincy's expression. "She's in trouble?"

"Yes!" Ryūken whimpered and he squeezed his eyes shut as he felt tears threatening mostly for the fear for his princess but Kūkaku's fingers were painful! "All you have to do is let me talk to him!"

"It'd be Isshin then, Kaien hasn't graduated _Shinō_ quite yet," The sudden sharp fear in her blue eyes had the opposite effect on Ryūken, knowing that she believed him filled him with relief. "What does this Urahara brat know?"

"He thinks she's only a talking cat," Ryūken held his breath when he actually saw a vein pulse on her forehead at his words. "And male," He added hesitantly and quickly scrambled across the floor to the door set on getting some support. The second it slid open thundering footsteps resounded across the floor and Kisuke almost sent himself through the doors in his haste to get through the small gap. He barely caught the frame and shoved the door open more to accommodate his entrance. "Let's go Urahara-kun she doesn't want to help-"

Kisuke gave a yelp, his eyes opening to show too much white as his head swiveled toward the reclining girl. "Shiba-sama!" He entreated with only her name. He moved to prostrate himself in front of the startled Kūkaku. "Please! _Koneko_-sama is only in this situation because he decided to help me when the _shinigami_ responsible for taking him, attacked me the other day."

Kūkaku sought out Ryūken, who was waiting for her to seek confirmation from him. He easily contained the smug smile as she was quickly overwhelmed by the boy's exuberant pleading. Kisuke was almost lying on his stomach, he still had his knees tucked up underneath him, and his forehead was pressed into the floor.

Walking forward Ryūken caught sight of the glittering trails cutting through the dirt on Kisuke's face when he lifted his gaze at the sound of his footfalls. "We suspect he is a fifth seat."

"Which division?"

"Eh?" Kisuke gave a large sniff to catch the dribbles from his nose and Kūkaku gave him a disgusted look.

"Get him clean, if _ojisan_ sees him he'll think we're all trying to get him kicked out, there's a pump around back," Kūkaku rolled to her feet and moved to a large white roll of rice paper the Shiba clan symbol done in an elaborate _shodo_. "Koganehiko! Shiroganehiko!" She bellowed.

Kisuke looked confused as he drug his forearm over one eye smearing the dirt and clean of his face, especially when Ryūken took a hold of his arm and lead him back out into the _shouten_ proper. "Ryūken-kun-"

"Quiet she's helping us!" Ryūken muttered as Kisuke got his feet back underneath him and started following.

"What did she mean by a pump Ryūken-kun?"

Knowing it would rile him more if he didn't answer Ryūken merely lead him out and between the buildings to the water pump where he placed the filthy boy before moving to the handle. "Close your eyes."

"Wait Ryūken-" A started gasping yelp ripped out of Kisuke as the ice cold water cascaded down over his head, the force of the water flattening his hair over his eyes as he slammed them shut.

He found a washing cloth hung over the spigot and threw it at Kisuke as he sputtered and pushed his hair out of his eyes, making sure that the wet cloth slapped over his face. Ryūken couldn't smother the laugh and Kisuke scrubbed at his face with the cloth before yanking it off his face and tilting his face up for another gush of water that the Quincy gladly gave him.

"Yūk-kun!"

Ryūken looked up towards the voice to see Kūkaku's head hanging out of one of the small windows high up on the wall. "Yes?"

"_Ojisan_ is _shunpoing_ this way as we speak," Kūkaku explained as she gave a grunt and shoved a bundle of cloth through the small space between the sill and her head. "I'm sending Shiroganehiko with some gunpowder to burn those clothes Urahara-kun!"

Kisuke lifted his hands up as he stepped away from the water and she dropped the bundle into his waiting arms. "You're too kind Shiba-sama!"

"Stop it!" Kūkaku cackled as she disappeared and slammed the cover over the window.

"Lemme hold those," Ryūken held his hands out as he saw the clothes become saturated with the water running down Kisuke in rivulets. He tried his best not to blush, but Kisuke showed no shame as he started to strip off the rags he called clothes.

"I think one more go with the water Ryūken-kun!" Kisuke decided as he looked up and caught Ryūken examining the wall, his face painted red with a blush. "Heh," He moved to the spigot as the Quincy complied and he was shivering as the water showered down over him.

"Here," Ryūken muttered, finding Kūkaku had wrapped the clothes in a large absorbent cloth for Kisuke to dry off with. As he did so Ryūken caught a few handfuls of water to wash his face and neck, slicking back his pale hair with his fingers. He only had to occupy himself a few moments, Kisuke dressed fast before he started rubbing the damp towel over his dripping hair.

"Ryūken-kun?"

Both boys looked up as a tall form filled the mouth of the narrow alley. Kisuke was close enough to feel each and every muscle in Ryūken's body coil at the sight of a raven-headed young man. "Shiba-sama, thank you so much for speaking with me."

"Is this your friend?"

Ryūken nudged Kisuke forward and the courageous blond bowed low at the waist, "Urahara Kisuke."

"Shiba Isshin, nice to meet you."


	8. Putting A Plan Into Motion

**A/N:** Just one of the translation variety if any of you were curious..._Mau _- to dance, to flutter about, _Kawa_ - stream

* * *

Putting A Plan Into Motion

"Kū-chan said you needed to find another _shinigami_," Kaien murmured as they all went into the _shouten_ to find Kūkaku. "Do you know his name?"

"We only know he's a fifth seat," Ryūken looked up to meet the _shinigami's_ eyes, just as piercing a hue as his younger sister's, only his were aqua green. "Urahara-kun's seen him."

Kisuke gulped as Kaien turned his gaze to him, their eyes both as curious about the other, but as usual the boy had an edge in that area on **anyone** somehow. "He was large...um," He realized just about everyone was bigger than he was. "I mean...he was bigger than normal, meaty fists...black hair in lots of braids, pale skin..."

Tessai hadn't been able to give him much information on the subject of _shinigami_ so Kisuke didn't know if that was very helpful. He knew that they were paragons in _Rukongai_, meaning he was currently gaping helplessly at the man in the black _shinigami_ uniform. It didn't help that at his description the intimidating Kaien's eyes starting to glow with fury.

"He tried to hurt you?"

Kisuke lowered his eyes as it seemed Kaien, Kūkaku and Ryūken were staring him down. "I tricked him out of a loaf of bread, Tessai-kun and I hadn't eaten in a long time and-"

"It is still dishonorable action for a fifth seat. Plus taking your pet is a childish response," Kaien's hand suddenly came down to pat Ryūken's pale head in consolation. "Don't worry Ryūken-kun we'll rescue him."

The _shinigami_ was taken by surprise when Kisuke threw his arms around his waist to hug him. "_Domo arigatou gozaimasu!_" He cried his face muffled in Kaien's _kimono._

With a chuckle Kaien returned his embrace as Ryūken held back the reprimand he wanted to give either Kisuke or Kaien, as if he were reminding Yoruichi of her own station. "Give me a few moments kids."

They watched him as he left the _shouten_ out the front door. Two nearly identical teenage boys appeared right behind them, bowing deep and Kūkaku nodded at them both. "Is it ready?"

"_Hai_!" They moved to flank the door and Kūkaku preceded them into the back room of before. Kisuke and Ryūken waited as they blocked the doorway while following their young mistress.

Kisuke's eyes grew so large it was funny enough to make Ryūken crack a smile. Being from _Rukongai_ he'd never seen so much food in one place.

When spiritual pressure was so reliant on eating well and those of _Seireitei_ had enough to instill it when creating new souls like the nobles, food was important. Ryūken was sure Kūkaku had ordered enough food made to feed the _shouten_; he'd noticed a lack of Shibas in the front room.

The number of trays that seemed to be for Kūkaku alone was impressive, being a noble brat's meal, hopefully she felt like sharing.

"Go at it," Kūkaku murmured and as she turned to see Kisuke's expression she cackled madly. "Wait Urahara-kun let me get some first!"

Kisuke gave a vigorous shake of his head-hair still thoroughly soaked through-and managed to shower Ryūken with tiny cold droplets. "Urahara-kun!" He sighed in frustration.

"Sorry, I've just never seen this much food!" Kisuke watched as Kūkaku started walking around the trays situated on the floor with Koganehiko carrying her large plate and Shiroganehiko filling the plate with anything she pointed at.

"Anyone with spiritual pressure has to eat, but I'm sure you noticed that," Ryūken admitted, and it was kind of a compliment Kisuke thought. Ryūken wanted to distract Kisuke, who looked to be salivating. The Quincy didn't blame him, the smell alone was getting to him; he could hear his stomach protesting not having the substance to go with the aroma.

"Yeah, Tessai-kun used to get really tired," Kisuke frowned and Ryūken remember Yoruichi's account of the two boys' friendship splitting. "I did too," He muttered, as if to himself.

Rather than let him dwell Ryūken pointed out that Kūkaku was elbow deep in food already. "As long as you don't eat more than half of it I can eat too."

There was a breathless moment when Kisuke treated Ryūken to an exuberant bear hug before descending on the food. Straightening his glasses Ryūken took the opportunity to return to the front room then out to spot Kaien muttering to himself.

"Shiba-sama-"

"Oh it's Kaien pipsqueak," He turned and Ryūken was surprised to see a delicate black butterfly, edged with the color of the _shinigami's_ eyes.

"Why is your hell butterfly that color?" Ryūken asked while cursing his prolonged exposure to one Kisuke Urahara...Where had his restrain gone? Caution? Hello? No. None!

"Matches my eyes," Kaien shrugged. "He just came that way," He looked surprised as the butterfly left his hand to dance away, thankfully distracting Kaien from the admission of _shinigami _knowledge Ryūken was still berating himself for.

"Where to?" The questions wouldn't stop!

"Oi! Maukawa!" Kaien shouted and Ryūken jumped. "I wasn't done where do ya' think you're going?"

The hell butterfly did a beautiful loop and turned around to hover in front of his _shinigami's_ perturbed scowl. "Ukitaki-_taichō_," Came out in Kaien's off-handed manner, like a perfect imitation.

"Aw don't be a show off now," Kaien gave a wave of his hand.

Ryūken watched the creature fly away worry gnawing at his stomach in combination with the hunger. "Why did you-"

"I'm only a twelfth seat...they don't officially count it as a seat all the way in Central 46 but the division does." Kaien murmured and watched his hell butterfly long after he disappeared. "Except for Ukitaki-_taichō_," He laughed fondly. "Although **he** says he only tolerates me because I'm so promising."

"Kaien-sama," Ryūken glanced toward the _shouten_ door. "_Koneko_-sama is really..." He hesitated and when Kaien met his gaze questioningly the Quincy found he couldn't reveal precious secrets to a _shinigami _even Yoruichi's secret. "H-he's really important to me. How will you rescue him?"

"I've sent word to Ukitaki-_taichō_, who is sending for that _baka_ that thinks himself worthy of a seated position. Tch," Kaien crossed his arms over his chest and Ryūken saw a large black tattoo along the top of his forearm, revealed when the sleeve of his _shihakushō_ moved. He quickly recognized the curling black shape as the Shiba crest, easily since there were several blaring in his peripheral vision along the _shouten's_ front. "His quarters aren't far from here and Kūkaku convinced me she could sneak in much easier without either Koganehiko or Shiroganehiko-"

"Kūkaku-chan? Why aren't you going?"

Kaien gave him a grin, "Weren't you the one that wanted this to stay covert? Shouldn't you be an expert already after infiltrating the Shihōin noble house?" He moved to lean on the front of the building, one of his feet lifting up to scratch the back of his other leg. "Huh Quincy-kun?"

"I-I only want it to stay covert because I don't wish to ruin Shihōin-_hime's _chance to make her _okasama _proud."

Surprised Kaien straightened against the wall. "What does Yoruichi-chan have to do with this?"

"This is my problem, I don't want others to find out, and make it hers," Ryūken murmured and the silence following was broken with the loud rumble of hunger from his empty stomach.

"Kū-chan has spiritual pressure but she's an unknown," Kaien pushed away from the wall and moved toward the door. "_Shinigami_ are hard to hide _reiatsu_ from," He lifted an eyebrow as he glanced down to catch the boy's eyes. "So I can't go, he'll recognize me."

Ryūken was so off put by having his deepest secret detected without a single ounce of visible effort-he hadn't even felt Kaien's _reiatsu_ examining him-that he worried the _shinigami_ was powerful enough to hear his heart speeding in his narrow chest. He didn't want Kūkaku to go alone, but he was pretty sure she wouldn't want to have him tag along, plus if a twelfth seat could tell his _reiatsu_ belonged to a Quincy...

"Kaien-sama, could Urahara-kun go?"

Surprise lit Kaien's eyes and he glanced back in Kisuke's direction, then down to Ryūken. "I don't recognize his name, is he a student in the Shihōin guard?"

"Um, no..."

"I don't mean to sound condescending but this isn't a mission for kids."

"I know but-" Ryūken hesitated a moment before asking, that was something like his old self-control. "He has spiritual energy, you can feel it right?"

Kaien's expression didn't change, but soon Ryūken felt the swell of the _shinigami's_ considerable _reiatsu_ as he stealthily reevaluated the boy. He was pleased with his own skill when he found that he hadn't skipped needlessly over the boy easily sensing that he was a non-threat when he'd arrived. "Not more than any soul has in order to stay corporal."

"But..." Ryūken grumbled to a halt as he thought over the strange _Rukongai_ native. "He can sense _reiatsu_."

"Interesting," Kaien's raven eyebrows hitched downward into a scowl, made softer by the bewildered grin on his face. "I'd heard Furui-_jiji_ was making announcements in _Rukongai_ for guard submissions."

Ryūken shook his head as yet another person told him something that he knew had been decided only last night, proving that Kentetsu was making good on his deal. "The Fon and Tsukabishi families were humble _Rukongai_ citizens once."

"True," Kaien nodded with an approving smile on his face. "You're a smart kid."

Ryūken only nodded back and gave a small grateful bow of his head to the noble.

"And I'm sure a Quincy needs to eat just as much as a _shinigami_ does, so lets get inside and eat before we have to put the rest of our plan into action," Kaien joked as he let Ryūken proceed him into the _shouten_. "Don't worry, I'm pretty sure you're not going to prove Soul Society's enemy so I'll keep your secret for you."

"_Domo arigatou, _Kaien-sama." Ryūken quickly lead the way inside, part of him chaffing at the necessary gratitude towards a _shinigami_.

By the time they reached the food there was hardly enough for Ryūken, let alone Kaien. Kisuke was sleeping in Kūkaku's pillow nest and the girl was in the final preparations for her mission.

"Yūk-kun," Kūkaku barked when she caught sight of him. "The twins went to make more food, they should be back soon."

"Yes! Second course? Fantastic!" Kaien moved to grab a mostly empty platter then he started putting whatever was left on the other platters onto it. When he was done he handed the platter over to Ryūken who could only gape at it in surprise a moment. "Ryūken-kun you are a growing boy."

For some reason Ryūken found himself sitting near Kisuke's snoring form. He looked like someone had hit him over the head and he'd stayed exactly where he had fallen...A small upward twitch to the corners of his lips was the only indication of his amusement.

"I think I'll go see how far along the cooks are," Kaien announced and he disappeared while Ryūken was distracted by the food in his mouth.

Kūkaku laughed loud enough to wake Kisuke as it became very apparent that Ryūken had just eaten the infamous, "Shrieking Shiba Fire Fish." "We like our food a little spicier than Shihōin-sama."

"That's why I filled up on rice..." Kisuke confessed with a yawn. "I loved 'em but they didn't love me."

"For a _Rukongai_ brat, he sure ate like a Shiba," Kūkaku purposefully repeated the compliment from earlier to see if she could get the same blush and wasn't disappointed the second time.

"Kū-chan stop it!" Kisuke held a pillow up to shield his face.

Ryūken was already fanning his burning tongue so when the exchange happened it was nothing for his jaw to gape open even more in shock. Then Kisuke threw the pillow at his face.

"Did your mom ever tell you not to make faces like that for long or the expression might stick," Kisuke noticed the forming smile wilt.

"My father," Ryūken nodded. "You're being rude to Kūkaku-chan."

"Oh, not everyone's as stiff as you," Kūkaku admonished. "I don't know what she sees in you."

"Who?" Kisuke murmured, Ryūken hadn't really thought he could go for as long as he had without a question.

"Shihōin-_hime_," Ryūken answered and waited for the inevitable follow-up question.

"Oh yeah," Kisuke nodded instead. Ryūken noticed how his hair had dried funny while he slept, now it was down in his face but bunched to either side of his eyes and Ryūken noticed someone had braided a clump down the center over his nose. "_Koneko_-sama said he belonged to the princess."

"Ichi-kun hates formality-"

"Ugh your nicknames Kūku-chan!" Ryūken protested.

"Hey that's my line Yūk-kun!" Kūkaku laughed a moment until her head suddenly swung upward only a moment before Kaien's hell butterfly, Maukawa, fluttered in through the tiny window high up in the wall. "_Oniisan_!"

Kaien was suddenly there, then suddenly on the other side of the room _shunpoing _as the butterfly danced down like a leaf flittering back and forth. Kaien lifted his hand to intercept and he landed with delicate tickling feet on the _shinigami's_ fingertip. As soon as his wings went still a deep somber voice filled the small room.

"Shiba-kun the quarters are empty, let me know by hell butterfly when it is safe to release Nakamura Kyojuu."

After the message ended Kaien turned to meet Kūkaku's gaze and she gave a sure nod, her grin almost feral. "Ryūken-kun, Kisuke-kun I left Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko with a few dozen platters."

"_Hai_, Kaien-sama," Ryūken gave a small bow of his head and as he stood gave Kisuke a glance.

He was watching as Kūkaku hugged her brother and whispered in his ear. "Where is Kū-chan going?"

Rolling his eyes at the informality Ryūken reached down to help pull the boy to his feet. "To rescue _Koneko_-sama."

Kisuke's eyes went wide and he was obviously reluctant so Ryūken had to drag him toward the hidden door. "She might need help Ryūken-kun maybe you should-"

"I can't," Ryūken glanced back to watch Kūkaku duck out the door. "I would if I could believe me."

Kisuke could see he was angry with himself for his inability, whatever might have caused it. "It's all right Ryūken-kun not everyone can move stealthily."

"That's not why!" Ryūken yelled and they both stared startled at one another. The Quincy looked baffled at his lack of self-control. _This boy..._

"Why then?"

With a shake of his head Ryūken continued to the tapestry, behind it was a surprisingly wide staircase down. "I'm not answering **that **question."

_Oh, just that question?_ "I heard you call _Koneko_-sama 'Yoru' earlier to Kū-chan," Kisuke started and had to stop before he smashed into the boy who'd abruptly stopped in the hidden threshold. "Is that his-"

"Why don't you clean up the old platters so we have a place for them?" Ryūken suggested.

Since Ryūken was purposefully not looking at him, Kisuke didn't bother trying to hold back the pleased grin. "Are you sure Ryūken-kun?"

"Very," Ryūken grumbled before disappearing down the staircase.

"_Hai_!" Kisuke exclaimed muffled though the tapestry.

Ryūken had been in the Shiba palace only once in the few meetings he had tagged along in secret for with Yoruichi. The much more modest underground part of the _shouten_ was a bit more familiar.

There was only a small hallway and a few rooms off of it. He found the kitchen by smell and found Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko helping a handful of cooks.

"Ryūken-san!" Koganehiko exclaimed in surprise.

"I was hoping I could help you with the food," Ryūken murmured with a bow of his head.

"Honorable Ryūken-san, _domo arigatou gozaimasu_! We could use an extra set of hands getting it upstairs," Shiroganehiko put hand on Ryūken's shoulder to guide the bewildered Quincy to the nearby wall.

There was a small door set too high in the wall, and hidden behind it was a compartment with a set of ropes, Ryūken could probably have fit inside it comfortably. "Food goes in and then someone at the top pulls those ropes," Shiroganehiko gestured with a thumbs-up. "And up it goes. With you we can get the trays in much quicker."

"Almost done Koganehiko-san!" One of the cooks started to fill a dozen more platters.

"Ryūken-san grab that tray with the short legs," Shiroganehiko pointed as he managed four platters at once, two in each arm.

"_Hai_! I'll be waiting up top Shiroganehiko." Koganehiko gave a clap of his hands and a nod to them as they loaded the dumbwaiter with platters and used the trays with the legs to stack and utilize all of the compartment's space. After six layers, each with two or three platters, Ryūken was taken by surprise when the lift jerked up and out of sight. "Whoa!" He leaned cautiously in to look up but the shaft was pitch black.

"_Domo arigatou_, Ryūken-san! You shaved two and half seconds off my average loading time," Shiroganehiko turned to the kitchen. "_Domo arigatou gozaimasu!_" Shiroganehiko called to the still busy cooks, who seemed to be cleaning up now.

They went back upstairs to find Koganehiko sitting with Kaien, eating from the trays, already **all** set out. Kaien ordered them to both join them. Now that he could see it all laid out Ryūken noticed a more sweets oriented menu. He also noticed...

"Urahara-kun?"

Kaien only sighed, and then-to give himself time-he stuffed a sweet bun into his mouth whole. For a moment Ryūken thought he might be choking but then his eyes stopped rolling back as he groaned, "Mmmm yummy!"

"Kaien-sama!" Ryūken didn't hesitate to shout in a chastising tone. The resulting sheepish grin made his next words almost unnecessary. "Where is Urahara-kun?"


	9. Rescue Mission

**A/N - **Just one translation _Maitta - _I give up!

* * *

Rescue Mission

Kūkaku mostly _shunpoed_ her way toward the thirteenth division compound that housed the lower seated officer quarters, otherwise she kept her spiritual pressure as contained as possible.

She walked the last few yards, as the two _shinigami_ guarding the thirteenth's gate came into sight. She slipped soundlessly around the far corner and with the recently attained skill of a _shunpo_ upward, she found herself on the narrow tiled roof of the wall, where she held very still. She listened for a moment, knowing even her still-developing _reiatsu_ could be detected, and she was surrounded by _shinigami_!

There was a flowery shrub to land in and she did a careful tumble out onto the grass of this small decorative flower garden. She moved through the garden, eyes scanning each gap between leaf and branch.

"Kū-chan."

Only her steel Shiba will kept her from squealing in surprise as Kisuke whispered her name from only a foot away. Her eyes swiveled to the blond, only his face barely showing from the leaves he hid in to her left. Damn, she always overcompensated for her right side!

"What the hell Hara-chan!" Kūkaku hissed as he moved to crouch next to her a grin splitting his face.

"Isshin-sama said I could accompany you, but I only just caught up." Kisuke stuck his tongue out at her and when she opened her mouth to object he did what Isshin had suggested and put the sweet bun he'd brought with him into her gaping mouth whole before she could get a word out.

For a moment she looked ready to explode, vein throbbing in her forehead, then she tasted the bread in her mouth and nearly swallowed it whole. "How'd you managed to get in here? _Shunpo_?"

"No... I'd be really happy to learn though if-"

"How then?" She growled insistently.

"The two guards are playing some card game, yelling at each other and slamming the table," Kisuke grinned toothily and made a tip-toeing gesture with his index and middle fingers like they were legs. "Snuck in."

"Hara-chan you still have some secrets!" Kūkaku cheered as loudly as she dared.

"Shall we Kū-chan?"

"Try and keep up."

Kisuke easily became Kūkaku's shadow following her up onto the wooden porch running along the entire side of the building. She actually had to turn back to check on him-he was so quiet she'd thought she'd left him behind-and almost jumped out of her skin when she found him **right** behind her. "These are his quarters."

"Can you sense _Koneko_-sama," Kisuke whispered almost in her ear.

"No, but-aw..." She paused at the door, pleased-but a bit disappointed-to find it open without a problem. "He's better at hiding it, than I am at detecting it."

Kisuke watched her disappear in through the door, thinking over how well she seemed to know _Koneko_-sama. She and Ryūken spoke of him like they had known each other years. He moved in after her, his mind pondering over more than just strategically placing himself in the threshold so he could look back outside to keep an eye out. He glanced over his shoulder inside just as Kūkaku turned to see where he'd gone.

"Close the door!"

Smoothly putting the relationships between palace pets and the children of the _Seireitei_ on the back burner Kisuke edged in a little further so he could whisper, "I'm watching out for people." He let his eyes move over the modest quarters, the first room multi-use for everything except sleeping. There was a door in the corner that was closed, and Kisuke suspected it was a separate bedroom.

"Nobody will have a reason to come inside...unless they see some _baka_ hanging half in the door!" Kūkaku was doing the same, her eyes seeking out any sign of Yoruichi. "We don't need a look out; help me find _Koneko_-sama!"

Stomach in his throat Kisuke only hesitated **after** closing the door, so Kūkaku wouldn't yell at him again. "The bug thing said it would keep the _shinigami_ until we rescued _Koneko_-sama..."

Kūkaku smiled softly as she heard Kisuke reassuring himself as he stared at the back of the hand that was still on the doorframe. Knowing already how brave he got when overtaken by his curiosity she moved to his side. "That bug thing is called a hell butterfly-_ojisan's_ is named Maukawa-and every soul has one."

"I don't have one."

"Yes you do..." Kūkaku argued with a small knowing grin. "You don't own them...Each soul has one, they're meant to help us travel between worlds."

"You mean here and... there..." Kisuke turned and started searching the room instead of meeting her gaze.

Kūkaku wasn't surprised that the boy wasn't curious about things concerning death. "Back and forth. You got to Soul Society on one."

"I did?" For a second he forgot where he was, his eyes wide as he turned them on Kūkaku. "But I came out of a lake."

"A lake?" Kūkaku stared at Kisuke a moment before she shook her head and made herself resume her search; dropping that particular subject. She moved toward the bedroom door and the boy followed. "You should ask _ojisan_ about it, they're kind of a _shinigami _thing."

"Do you know why Ryūken-kun dislikes _shinigami_ so much?" Kisuke was surprised when she stopped in the doorway and he bumped into her.

"Hm," Kūkaku was looking back at Kisuke, a thoughtful look on her face, maybe hearing this bit of observational information for the first time. "That makes sense...He was polite before _oiisan_ went to the academy."

"The academy?"

Kūkaku grinned, her teeth brilliant in the little bit of moonlight that lit the room. "_Shinōreijutsuin_ it's the school you go to if you want to become a _shinigami_, they help marshal _reiatsu_, teach people how to control it, swordsmanship, fighting, anything that'll help kill a hollow. Isshin graduated before I was born and my older brother Kaien is due to graduate this year," She moved into the bedroom, resisting the urge to ransack it in search of the princess. "Most nobles have the basics down though, some even have hollow slaying tactics of their own, but Yama-_jiji_ has always tried very hard to keep it open to anyone that has spiritual pressure, even _Rukongai_ brats."

Kisuke had already a handful of questions waiting before she said that last bit then he started to make sure she knew that he was one of those brats when she gave a frustrated sigh. "What?"

"I can't sense anything but that damn fifth seat he's overpowering everything."

"He's probably hidden _Koneko_-sama somewhere too," Kisuke sighed then called. "_Koneko_-sama? Its Urahara Kisuke remember me? I didn't mean to sneak into the _Seireitei_ but your friend Ryūken-kun made me."

"Keep checking in here, I'll go tear the other room apart," Kūkaku instructed the worry clear on her face even in the semi-lit room.

"_Hai_," Kisuke nodded and started to look through the small room again. There was a simple futon and a small wooden wardrobe in the corner and a few stacks of scrolls and papers. "_Koneko_-sama?" He called again, a little louder and he heard Kūkaku hiss warning to him from the other room. He frowned as he started pulling the blankets off the futon just incase the feline was hidden unconscious underneath.

"Anything Hara-chan?" Kūkaku called as loud as she dared.

"No I-" Kisuke froze as something-movement?-caught his eye as he turned his head to call out to Kūkaku. He moved to pick up the blanket he'd just thrown on the floor but there was nothing underneath.

"_Kuso_..." He'd been sure he'd seen-what?-well he wasn't quite sure what; it had been in his peripheral vision.

"Hara-chan?"

With a few more choice words he threw the blanket and turned to check in the wooden wardrobe.

At Kūkaku's startled exclamation he turned to see her eyes riveted to the floor. He didn't get what they were seeing until Kūkaku kicked the blanket aside and pressed her hand along what appeared to be an invisible wall. It wasn't a window; there was no glass when Kisuke moved to join Kūkaku in touching where the blanket had piled against the unseen obstruction.

While Kūkaku fumed and cursed Kisuke made a series of light knocks with his knuckles up and down the barrier, intrigued.

"It's _Kidō_."

"_Kidō_?"

Kūkaku shook her head, "Its stuff they teach _shinigami_ at their academy...They teach 'em to shape their _reiatsu_ into spells..."

"Tessai could light fires with his...and he caught me as I was falling through the air once," For a moment he concentrated on his own second sight to see the everyday paths the _shinigami_ had worn into the mats with his _reiatsu_.

"You should see the fire I can make," Kūkaku smiled fondly, even as her hand pressed against the spell uselessly.

"Could you use it to burn this one?"

"Maybe if he wasn't a fifth seat," Kūkaku pressed her finger to the barrier. "Maybe you?" She looked over toward Kisuke.

"I don't...I don't know how. Everyone tells me I have _reiatsu_ but I don't," Tears smarted his eyes and he blinked them back. "If I did I would break him out of there right now!" He gave the barrier a pound of his fist. _Can you hear me? _He wondered, he knew that the cat would be calling to them if he could, so either they couldn't hear through this spell or...

"You have to be hiding it!"

Kisuke gave a long sad sniff distracted from his sorrow when Kūkaku started to glow a pale blue. He watched her scowl in concentration at where her finger pressed against the spell.

As Kisuke watched he felt the air thicken as Kūkaku's glow intensified. "I'm not strong enough yet, Hara-chan."

"_Koneko_-sama!" Kisuke gave the barrier another pound. "Can you hear me? It's Kisuke!" He leaned forward to press his ear to the wall but there was no reply.

Kūkaku lifted a hand to knock as well, only to have Kisuke's hand snap out to stop hers. She darted a glance at where Kisuke's fingers shackled her wrist, then to the boy himself.

"Sshh!" Kisuke released her and pressed the entire side of his face to the barrier. He could have sworn he'd felt-there!-"Something's knocking back!" He exclaimed and Kūkaku cried out and smooshed her face against the spell like Kisuke.

It was a moment before Kūkaku could feel the faint vibrations, set a handful of seconds apart.

"_Maitta_!" Kūkaku pulled away. "I'll have to go get _ojisan-_" She cried out in surprise when she turned and stepped right into Ryūken. "Yūk-kun!"

"Ryūken-kun!" Kisuke cheered loudly and promptly clamped his hand over his mouth. He watched Ryūken's fingers slide his glasses into place staring at the spell like he could actually see it. "_Koneko_-sama is behind this..."

"_Bakudō_ 26," Ryūken murmured with a frown.

"Can you break it Yūk-kun?" Kūkaku whispered already awed that he seemed to know the spell's name.

"I don't know," Ryūken looked from Kisuke to Kūkaku. "Can you go and see if Isshin can help? I'll try."

"_Hai_! I'll _shunpo_ as fast as I can," Kūkaku nodded and ran for the front door.

Ryūken followed and closed the door into the bedroom. "Kisuke I might need your help."

"What are you-?"

Ryūken moved down to his knees as close as he could to the barrier. He smoothed one hand down as if getting a sense of its strength. He surprised Kisuke-who was staring at that hand-by knocking a strange series of different knocks with the knuckles of his other hand against the barrier. "Yoru-kun!" He winced inwardly at the nickname and hoped Yoruichi understood its necessity. The return series of knocks was familiar but very faint. "It's woven together with _Bakudō_ 81," His expression told Kisuke that wasn't good. "It should be at its most fragile on the inside and the strength of the outside depends on the maker."

"Can you break it?"

"With your help," Ryūken gave a sure nod. "You have to promise you won't tell anyone about this, Urahara-kun."

"Only if you keep a secret of mine..." Kisuke put his hand on Ryūken's shoulder to catch his attention. "And only if you call me Kisuke."

"_Hai_," Ryūken nodded softly, hair falling forward as he purposefully stared at the ground.

"Whatever this secret is you had better reveal it soon or Isshin-"

"He knows not to come unless I sent you."

"But Kū-chan's faster!"

"Yoru-kun trusts you, I trust him," Ryūken admitted. "I may have known Kūkaku longer but Yoru-kun is..." He hesitated and shook his head; he couldn't give away her secret to everyone. He knew Kūkaku had been a necessary confidant, but he didn't trust her with his own secrets. "He trusts you."

Again Kisuke was curious to hear the respectful tone people spoke of the kitten with. "Don't ask a lot of questions...I mean dumb random ones, I want you to understand what you're doing, so ask about it if you have to."

"Which is?" Kisuke was pretty sure that wasn't a dumb question.

Ryūken stepped back and lifted his hand out; a silver medallion falling from his sleeve to dangle on a bracelet around his wrist. It only kept Kisuke's attention because it began to glow a fierce blue light in the center of what looked like a star in a circle.

"Help me with your spiritual pressure," Ryūken ordered, holding out his other hand to Kisuke.

"But I don't-"

"What is it that helps you sense other's _reiatsu_?"

"It's just something my eyes can do...It's not the only thing," He hinted and when Ryūken looked curious Kisuke shook his head, "No dumb questions now."

"What makes your eyes do it? Do you always see _reiatsu_?" The Quincy was sure that would suck!

"No, I've learned how to turn it off and on."

Ryūken's eyes lit up and he grabbed Kisuke's hand, "How?!"

"I just concentrate-"

"On what?" Ryūken interrupted, his fingers squeezing his hand impatiently. "Whatever it is, focus on that...very, **very** hard."

"_Hai_," Kisuke nodded and gasped as a searing sound split the air, much like the blue light from the medallion. It cut a curved shape through the air and then-

Kisuke glanced at his hand as Ryūken moved to press it to his neck, where it curved into his shoulder and the collar of his tunic ended. Eyes wide Kisuke met Ryūken's brown eyes and the trust in them scared him, his fingers tightened on the flesh beneath his fingers. He watched the Quincy's hand move across what he recognized as a short bow...A bow made of _reiatsu_. His fingertips brushed the apex of the curve as if touching his other hand where it clutched the bow and as he pulled that hand back a long thin string of light slivered off the bow and made a bowsting. His touch left behind an arrow of light as he pulled the bow taut.

"Kisuke-kun," Ryūken hissed and aimed the arrow upward a little so that it would miss anyone behind if it went all the way through. "Focus!"

Kisuke closed his eyes and did as Ryūken commanded. The Quincy focused on the bow but he could feel Kisuke squeezing with his fingers in a vain attempt to hide how he was trembling. "Ryūken-kun I don't know-"

"Can you feel the pressure?" Ryūken asked taking some of his _reiatsu_ to flow around Kisuke. Kisuke gasped as the air thickened around him and power prickled across his bare skin.

The sensation was familiar, he'd felt it when he focused the color of his second sight. "Normally when I use it, my eyesight is red...I focus to filter it and chanage..." Kisuke shook his head and instead of explaining it he showed him.

Ryūken gasped as the comfortable warmth of the arrow in his hand quickly became uncomfortable as the arrow grew in size and temperature. "Slowly," He said his teeth clenched as the bow and arrow started to shiver.

"Sorry...sorry..." Kisuke closed his eyes as he was overwhelmed suddenly with the prickling rush, but from the inside. He sucked in a startled breath as he felt it try to escape his skin, explode out and fearfully he pushed it out where he was touching Ryūken. He saw the arrow suddenly double in size and his heart jumped up as Ryūken cried out in pain and his fingers balled into a fist as he pulled the bow tight again, as it had gone slack in his moment of pain. "Let it go Ryūken-kun!"

Like he was only waiting for the order Ryūken let the arrow fly and it shattered against the _kidō_ with only a black scorch to show it's had hit. "_Kuso_!" He muttered shaking his stinging hand the bow dissipating. "Not even a crack."

A sharp pain where Kisuke's fingers bit into his neck reminded Ryūken he was still touching him. He could still feel the mellow wash of the boy's spiritual pressure as it fluctuated from non-existent to sand in his lungs. "Urahara-kun are you okay?"

The messy blond shook his head, meeting Ryūken's gaze to convey the sharp anxiety and confusion filling him along with a chaotic spiritual pressure. "I've never felt..." He gasped and licked his lips as if his mouth were desiccated, his free hand coming up to press the heel of his palm into his temple.

Worry thrilled through Ryūken just like Kisuke's released spiritual pressure. The peaks of his _reiatsu_ were dying down but the fluctuations were still severe, if any _shinigami_ walked close by they would sense him. "Calm down, control it."

"I don't know how, I n-never knew," He whimpered as he lowered his hand from his head to look at it, the glow now much different than he was used to seeing it. Before it had been a soft aura at most, like a cloud of light exuded from the skin (it was rare when it went beyond the skin); now it was like a flame, roaring and swimming over his skin as if it were trying to devour him. Ryūken's too, his delicate aura was a crisper blue and the flow of it over his skin was almost like electricity and fire.

"Just calm down," Ryūken murmured in a soothing tone. "We still have to get Yoru-kun out of here; we can't attract the guards' attention."

At those words Kisuke's eyes widened in fear and he took a deep breath, focusing on his other ability, his second sight since it had helped to awaken this monster. He focused his stare on Ryūken chest, on his own heart where it pumped blood in and out, in and out, he concentrated on the lub-dub of his own rushing heartbeat, making it Ryūken's in his imagination. The tingle along his skin lessened and he looked down at his hand to see the blood rushing through even the tiniest of pathways underneath the skin in a gory show. Shocked he clamped his eyes shut and his level of _reiatsu_ flared again and Ryūken hissed in warning.

"You said it was weaker on the inside?" Kisuke whispered as an idea hit him.

"Yes," Ryūken almost sounded panicked.

"Tell _Koneko_-sama to try and weaken it from his side," Kisuke tried to get a handle on controlling the sudden fountain of spiritual pressure that he had become. He felt it like a second body, but without the confines of skin and flesh and bone. It felt as if his skin was pulsing, a cool mellow tingle warming his body like a liquid fur coat. He looked back down at his hands after collecting his nerve and once again his stomach turned as his second sight let him see the flow of blood underneath as if his skin was completely translucent.

The moment he thought about turning off that sight-almost **before**-it snapped off and his hands were normal...Except that now he could see the _reiatsu_...well not see it, but...like _Koneko_-sama had said, he **sensed** it. For instance he could only sense Ryūken's where it encountered his. Where his own ended, the visual of the Quincy's became only an invisible pressure. There was so much more to it than just visual and tactile, but he had no idea how to convey the sensations without using terms for the five senses he knew.

He felt Ryūken's hand squeeze his and he realized his fingers were still clamped where his neck met his shoulder. "I think I have one more arrow like that in me," Ryūken murmured as he looked down at the abraded skin of his hand. He moved, and Kisuke went with him, afraid to let go lest he lose all grounding. Kneeling Ryūken pressed his hand to the barrier, low down just where a small kitten might be able to reach.

"Yoru-kun! I need you to use your _reiatsu_ to weaken the _kidō_ on that side!" He pressed his face close to the wall and lifted his voice as loud as he dared. "Knock if you can do it." He waited, holding his breath until his fingers felt the sudden vibration of something hitting the other side right where he was touching. "All right get ready!" He got back to his feet and stepped back with Kisuke as the shape of the bow practically leapt from his Quincy cross to his hand.

"Ready Yoru-kun!" He called, a little worried to create an arrow, he could feel Kisuke's _reiatsu_ waiting like a pack of beasts on the verge of stampeding, straining against his fingertips. "You have to back down on it, or I'm going to lose my fingers Kisuke-kun," He muttered, glancing back to see the boy's eyes were clamped tightly shut, a vein throbbing in his temple.

"All right...alll..." He groaned and bit off a whimper as he nodded and Ryūken felt his spiritual pressure plummet as if falling down a cliff face. "Now."

Fingers trembling Ryūken reached forward hoping that Kisuke's momentary control didn't snap while he was making his arrow. His spiritual energy was impressive for his age, and he could tell that so was Kisuke's-now that he had released it-and if either of them lost control of it-and if Ryūken couldn't shoot arrows fast enough-the combined _reiatsu_ could blow up a significant part of the barracks. "Ready Kisuke-kun?"

"_H-hai_..." His voice shook as he huffed out the word and he focused as Ryūken started to count.

"One," He called out touching his hand to his bow he pulled back the string of light, the arrow already larger than he usually made them as it formed in the wake of his fingertips. "Two," He watched the arrow start to grow in size and he felt a grin curve his lips as it steadily increased, the temperature climb gradual enough to only sting his injured hands. "Three, go!"


	10. You're What!

**A/N: **Just one translation if you don't know it..._Gomennasai - _a less formal apology.

* * *

You're What?

Chapter Ten

You're What?!

Sōken had always told him that keeping his eyes open wasn't important in shooting a Quincy bow. Ryūken kept his gaze fastened on the point in the air where his arrow would meet the invisible _kidō_ spell all the same, his heart singing out as he let the arrow fly from it just like Sōken had commanded he do countless times; over and over, hundreds of arrows in a day. It had taken him so long to learn that simple credence but he could feel that Kisuke had already mastered that part, the power rushing from the boy came right from his heart; the **intent** in his _reiatsu_ was filled solely with his feelings for Yoruichi, their budding friendship and her rescue, her protection.

Joy spilled from Kisuke as the _kidō_ unwound and glowing shards of arrow and barrier crumbled and disintegrated as it fell down upon the glowing black kitten now clearly visible on the floor. "Ryū-kun," She whimpered and the Quincy shrugged off Kisuke's hand and fell to the floor hands reaching out to the feline. Yoruichi gave a feeble mew and fell into his waiting hands. "Kisuke-kun?"

Ryūken turned to look at Kisuke as he watched their reunion. He was grinning from ear-to-ear. He was back to normal, his spiritual pressure back under control. The pressure of the situation and Kisuke's determination had overwhelmed whatever dam had been holding back his full power. He would only get stronger but right now Ryūken was pleased to see that now he could see his _reiatsu_ easily. His hypothesis had been correct; it had been mostly dormant inside the boy only waiting for something to slap it awake, Ryūken's _reiatsu_.

"Let's get out of here," Ryūken murmured as it looked like Yoruichi was just as full of questions as Kisuke. "How did you get inside Kisuke-kun?"

"I snuck in past the guards."

"Well that might have been easy with your _reiatsu_ sleeping but now it's not," Ryūken's mind went over escape plans.

"I'll run a distraction," Yoruichi murmured.

"No," Kisuke shook his head and moved to open the bedroom door. "You're hurt _Koneko_-sama, I'll get out fine on my own. Ryūken get him out of here."

They moved together out of the quarters and both Ryūken and Yoruichi were impressed as they all moved undetected to the corner garden Kūkaku had hidden in earlier. Yoruichi was bursting with questions, most of them having to do with her blond heroes and not so much the rescue and how it had come about. She curled up tight in Ryūken's warm arms, the _reiatsu_ not nearly as tightly wound as is usually was.

"How are you-" Ryūken trailed into silence as he turned back to ask Kisuke and found him gone. "Kisuke-kun?"

A grin curled her kitty mouth at the informal name, remembering the nickname that Ryūken had called to her through the _kidō_ spell. It hadn't been far off from the nickname she had finally browbeaten him to use (which he **still** fought using). Kisuke had disappeared up one of the clusters of bamboo, the only sign of his weight a slight sway to the stalks that soon stilled.

Angling her head up Yoruichi just managed to see Kisuke's toothy grin as he hung his messy head over the edge of the roof tile. "Are you guys waiting for something?"

A slight tightening of his arms was all the warning Yoruichi got before Ryūken _hirenkyakued _them both to the tiles right beside Kisuke. He jumped and spun over onto his back to look up at Ryūken but made no sound. She winced as his newfound _reiatsu_ gave a small flare before he seemed to get a grasp on it. She let her senses absorb both new spiritual signatures, learning them so that she wouldn't have to see them to know the owners.

She watched Kisuke drop to the ground, his legs bending to absorb the landing and he only made a small muffled noise as he hit the ground. "_Domo_ _arigatō,_" She murmured as Ryūken moved down off the roof and they all moved quietly toward the Shiba _shouten_.

No surprise Kisuke murmured, "What happened _Koneko_-sama?"

"I found your camp and waited for you but that _shinigami_ found me," A growl rumbled out of her furry chest. "Used a binding _kidō_ as soon as I got my claws in him."

"Did he hurt you?" Ryūken asked, he was calm like always on the outside but Yoruichi could still feel his _reiatsu_ and it told the truth. Hot molten rage rose inside at the thought of a _shinigami_ hurting someone he cared about.

"A little, he carried me by my tail, I can hardly walk because of it," Yoruichi admitted and Ryūken must have finally realized he wasn't as contained as usual because it peaked sharply then disappeared from her senses.

"Maybe Isshin-sama knows some healing _kidō_," Ryūken suggested and he immediately felt Yoruichi's feline reaction, claws surprisingly.

"I thought I heard Kū-chan," Yoruichi stated, looking up in time to see Ryūken purposefully look down to catch her gaze. It wasn't frightening to think that Kūkaku knew, when they were younger they had been forced to play together enough for Yoruichi to understand how strong her personality was, even then.

Considering this covert rescue Yoruichi was sure she had been right when guessing the rough spoken noble girl would become just as noble as any other, but much stronger. Much kinder.

"_Moushiwake-gozaimasen_," Ryūken murmured. "I told Kūkaku-chan."

"I know...I'm that smart," Yoruichi quipped and Kisuke laughed. "But not Urahara-kun I see."

"He won't tell me anything!" Kisuke couldn't smother the smile as he whined and pretended to stomp his foot in a tantrum. "Said **you** would answer all of my questions."

"_Domo, _Ryū-kun," Yoruichi muttered sarcastically. "I have lots to tell you boy, when we have some guarantee of privacy let me speak and then what I haven't answered you can ask about."

Kisuke gave a solemn nod and surprised Yoruichi by procuring a salted fish. "Isshin-sama thought you might like this...Don't worry it's not the fire fish," He made a face, as he recalled the memory of the fish in a good way. "They were madness! Delicious...Have you had them?"

"I love Shrieking Shiba Fire Fish!"

"Oh _Kami_ they have a name!" Ryūken groaned his memory not as pleasant as Kisuke's. "Good I can tell Kūkaku-chan what I don't want."

"I wanted to bring some but Kūkaku's peace offering took up most of my carrying space," Kisuke sighed and patted his chest. "Koganehiko said he'd have a snack waiting for us."

Ryūken looked over toward Kisuke, specifically to the hand on his chest. "Carrying space?"

Kisuke gave him a grin, his gaze moving toward Yoruichi. "There's-"

"Pocket sewn into his shirt," Yoruichi yawned. "Don't act like a secret pocket is so hot Ryū-kun, those come standard on Shihōin pajamas."

Impressed with that information and that Yoruichi knew it Kisuke reached into his tunic to pull out the paper that had been wrapped around the fish. "_Hai_, _Koneko_-sama! Shiba too."

"Tch," Ryūken was still very serious, his face indifferent but his tone teasing. "Quincy created the secret compartment Yoru-kun."

With a laugh Yoruichi meowed, "Ryū-kun!" She looked up at him, trying to ignore the delicious smell of fish overwhelming her feline sense of smell, empty stomach, and waning _reiatsu_. He had laughter in his eyes; the feline eyes helped her to see it in the setting sun.

"I had to use my cross to break that _kidō_," Ryūken admitted.

"You got to see the bow!" Yoruichi yowled in pure jealousy her eyes shooting to Kisuke who only laughed and rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish smile. "_Teme..._Quincy," She hissed, much like Ryūken had said about the _shinigami_ with just as much conviction. "I'm starving!" Now Yoruichi didn't hesitate to eat the bit of fish out of Kisuke's hand.

"You heard the cat," Kisuke grinned as Yoruichi licked any remains from his hand with her small rough tongue. "Shouldn't you be _hirenkyakuing_ already?"

Ryūken said nothing to this, resolutely ignoring both sets of eyes boring curiosity through him before _hirenkyakuing_ away. They arrived a few minutes before Kisuke who-Yoruichi knew from experience-was a fast runner, fast enough to counter her fledgling _shunpo_.

"You haven't told him anything?" Yoruichi asked as she sensed his approaching _reiatsu_ flickering and small like a candle's flame. "How did you manage that?"

"I told him you would answer questions about yourself and answered most of the others," Ryūken's eyes were sharp enough to see Kisuke in the setting sun. "He...He's..."

"You like him don't you?" Yoruichi asked in a smug voice. "I noticed, 'Kisuke-kun'," She teased in a sing-song voice.

"He blackmailed me with your wellbeing."

"I heard."

"_Teme_, _shinigami_ one-way _kidō_...Sōken's right it's useless."

Surprised Yoruichi didn't reply as Kisuke finally joined them. The Quincy had not only been joking-a miraculous thing to begin with-but to also joke about his father; it was like earlier when he'd teased her about Quincy. She was glad Kisuke had shown up so she couldn't embarrass herself with stuttering speechlessness.

"Oh my dear friends!" Kisuke laughed as he finally caught up, breathing hard from running full speed for so long. "It makes my heart sing that you would wait for me!"

"Hara-chan?" Shouted from inside the _shouten_.

Ryūken stepped back as Kūkaku flew through the door, tackling Kisuke. He watched in mild horror as the two shrieked and laughed madly while each attempted to tickle the other. "Tch."

"Ryū-kun," Yoruichi chastised as they started inside. "Kids have to have fun."

"Yes you've told me that plenty," Ryūken grumbled, remembering it each time he had mentioned her gross informalities.

"Especially kids from nobles families," Isshin's voice came out of nowhere, startling them. "They have too many responsibilities and when they reach adulthood even the most rambunctious of us wish we'd have done more with the years we had."

"Isshin-sama," Ryūken nodded to the _shinigami_ who was leaning against the wall just inside the _shouten_ door. "I don't know how to thank you for all you've done."

"Make sure that Kisuke brat gets submitted for the guard," Isshin said with an easy shrug, as if that answer should have been obvious. "If he has a problem because he's an orphan I'll talk my brotherinto speaking for him."

"_Hai_," Ryūken had planned on doing that already. Truthfully Yoruichi had asked for his help in that endeavor but Ryūken had decided to make doubly sure a few minutes after meeting Kisuke; although he hadn't realized so until just now. Shocked at this realization he missed Isshin's next words.

"Yoru-kun," Isshin murmured and with a hand on Ryūken's shoulder he guided the still recovering Quincy into the vacant back room. "Nice voice," He chuckled. "And your _reiatsu_ is almost completely different from your human form's."

"Isshin-sama-" Ryūken started to quickly object.

"I think that anyone that was around both shapes would find the similarities obvious," Isshin said the words like a warning.

Yoruichi had finally shaken off her own shock-thankful for quick Ryūken-and her ears flattened down on her head. "I don't control the voice, I just sound like a boy naturally in this shape...and the only person I'm around in both forms knows my secret."

Isshin bowed his head in apology when he sensed the buzz of her _reiatsu_...Trying not to be distracted by a new spiritual pressure that hit his radar as he opened it while sensing the princess. It clicked a second before he went into offensive action that it was Kisuke's. "I need to get going, Ukitake-_taichō_ wants to talk."

"I had to break a _kidō_ spell," Ryūken admitted.

Their eyes met and Isshin nodded. "Don't worry, the fifth seat's a _baka_ he won't recognize the signature difference. He only got a seat because he was good with _kidō_ and has loads of _reiatsu_."

"He could have killed you," Ryūken muttered to himself about Yoruichi his mind going over scenarios. For once he wasn't logical-even though he was standing here with Yoruichi cradled safe in his arms-still he imagined his "what ifs."

"I'm fine," Yoruichi hissed. "Well I could use some healing."

"I'm pretty savage with my _kidō_...Quite the opposite of a healer actually," Isshin apologized. "You want Ju-kun, he's good with animals," He offered.

"Of course," Yoruichi carefully moved to a large pillow Ryūken dropped down next to.

"I'll send him on my way to _Taichō_," Isshin bowed his head before leaving them to try peeling Kūkaku and Kisuke apart on his way out.

"Ju-kun?" Ryūken whispered as racing footsteps clattered through the _shouten,_ heralding Kūkaku and Kisuke's return.

"Shiba Ganju," Yoruichi answered the unvoiced question. "Littlest Shiba cub-"

"_Koneko_ you'd better get to talking before Ju-kun gets here...He can't keep his mouth shut," Kūkaku landed in her pillow nest. The collection had grown and spread out a little more, which was no surprise when Kisuke tumbled headfirst into it with a weird kind of flip.

The landing looked painful but Kisuke only grinned, his hair refusing to move from his eyes even while his head lolled half off a pillow. "Please, _Koneko_-sama?"

"Well-first off-my name is Yoruichi, heir to the noble Shihōin clan," Yoruichi made a face at that last part and Kisuke was close enough to see it. "Not as interesting as a talking cat."

"You're a human that can become a cat," Kisuke countered, his heart thumping as information ricocheted through his mind. A human? Yoruichi...The princess? "Why do you sound like a man?"

"Feline voice box?" Yoruichi actually managed to make her tail curl up like a question mark as she suggested it. "I don't know."

"You don't?"

"I discovered I could do it in a dream, I needed to pass through a small hole in a wall and I just focused on making myself small enough to pass through it. Nobody knows I can do it except the people in this room."

"And Isshin," Ryūken huffed.

Yoruichi gave a meow and tried not to laugh at how upset the Quincy sounded. "Yes, him too."

"It's a secret then," Kisuke nodded. "Don't worry Shihōin-_hime_."

"Don't start doing that," Yoruichi objected her ears picking up sounds of movement in the next room. "I think our visitor just arrived."

"Yeah, I was wondering when he was going to speak up," Kūkaku called out. "Get in here and get to work, Yūk-kun's cat needs healing."

A small boy-he couldn't be any older than three or four-crept into the room with his head bowed. "How'd ju'know?"

"Heard you," Kūkaku sneered. "Sensed your _reiatsu_ when you came through the front door _baka_."

"_Ojisan_ told me ta bring ya sum extra clothes," Ganju lifted a neatly bound bundle in his arms before dropping it next to Ryūken on his way over toward his new feline patient. Yoruichi tried to relax as the boy moved and plopped down behind her, grabbed her and dumped her unceremoniously into his lap. "Wat's w'ong wit' ya kitty?"

"She had someone pull her tail, she's having a hard time walking," Ryūken explained so Yoruichi wouldn't have to talk.

"Aw," Ganju's hand gently stroked along Yoruichi's head and back and she had to give him credit-and a purr-he knew just how to scratch. "S'all right, kitty I'll fix ya."

Ryūken watched her eyes drift closed and he wished he could get his _reiatsu_ to do healing _kidōs_ but the Quincy's power was different. They had their own type of _kidō_ but in order to use it effectively large amounts of the Quincy's _reiatsu_ had to be stored in silver tubes called, "_Gintō_."

"Questions Hara-chan?" Kūkaku joked, of course he had questions.

"I have to think first," Kisuke admitted, and his eyes moved toward Ganju, and everyone knew he remembered how secretive this information was.

"Well I have one," Kūkaku continued.

Ryūken eyed her nervously and she noticed with a maniacal grin. "What?"

"What is Furui-_jiji_ thinking accepting submissions from _Rukongai_?"

"Everyone still has to show ability, he's not just taking them in off the streets...fighting, _reiatsu_..."

"Like the academy started doing a few hundred years back," Kūkaku nodded approval. "_Ojisan_ said when the school started it was low ranking nobles only. 'Bout time you snooty upper households realized there's potential in people you consider inferiors."

Yoruichi gave a long irritated meow but soon succumbed to the pleasant green glow radiating from Ganju's small hands. Ryūken didn't mind helping and shot Kūkaku a withering look.

Even though he was still digesting the whole "_Koneko_ isn't an animal-not only that but a girl-and a princess on top of that!" nonsense, that didn't keep all his brain's attention. He was keeping tabs on the conversation that had continued while he had slipped into silence watching Yoruichi get healed.

Kisuke didn't know he looked dazed since he was really on overload. Too much curiosity and simultaneous information input had his brain zipping along while he was catatonic on the outside. So many questions! So many answers!

"Ju'should eat ya know," Ganju whispered soothingly to Yoruichi.

The discussion ended as Koganehiko appeared at the hidden door like he'd run up the entire flight of stairs. He moved with more grace to the door of the dumbwaiter concealed beneath a very large bronze fan.

Ryūken watched Koganehiko lift all six trays and carry them as if they weighed nothing before setting them up in two lines down the middle of their circle. He noticed the glassiness of Kisuke's stare as it followed the lightning quick Koganehiko.

"Kisuke-kun?" Ryūken called, cutting off Kūkaku who he hadn't really been paying attention to, thanks to Kisuke. "You all right?"

Kūkaku turned to look at the stunned boy. "Hara-chan?"

"Too...much..."

With a cackle Kūkaku rolled over to cuff the back of his head with her hand. "Hara-chan if you do this no one is going to want to answer any of your questions."

They all stayed relatively quiet as Shiroganehiko appeared at the top of the stairs with a stack of large empty plates and he helped Koganehiko fill one for each person. They were done fast and as Shiroganehiko moved to put the empty trays and platters into the dumbwaiter his brother moved to his mistress's side. "Kūkaku-dono!" Koganehiko barked his posture ramrod straight.

"Yes Koganehiko?"

Instead of answering Koganehiko moved across the room to intercept Maukawa-Isshin's hell butterfly-who had managed to silently fluttered in while they were distracted with talking and a stunned Kisuke. He lowered his arm gently after the butterfly landed and tip-toed back to Kūkaku where he knelt down and extended his cupped hand.

"You may go," Kūkaku said with a nod of thanks and Koganehiko gently placed the butterfly onto her waiting fingertip.

"_Hai,_ Kūkaku-dono!" And both he and Shiroganehiko were gone in a blink.

Kūkaku looked down at the butterfly, as did everyone else as they started to devour the food, even Kisuke. "You done yet Ju-chan?"

"Yeah, like forever ago," He said in a taunting sing-song, mouth full of rice.

"Then scram!" She shouted and Yoruichi gave a startled yowl when the boy jumped to obey and left her crumpled on the floor, almost in the plate he'd been eating out of.

"_Domo arigatō gozaimasu!_" Yoruichi managed to shout after the frightened boy. "Kū-chan that wasn't nice," She chastised as she moved back to the pillow she'd been lying in before Ganju's arrival, her motions much more fluid. There she was able to gulp down the food Ganju had left behind.

"Well I'm sure _ojisan_ wouldn't send a message everyone could safely hear that won't start when the butterfly touches me," Kūkaku lifted her hand, the butterfly slowly flapping its wings as silent as death. She gave her hand a shake and the butterfly took off and fluttered over toward Yoruichi.

Maukawa fluttered over and landed on Yoruichi's back since she was half-crouching/half-laying on the edge of the pillow so she could reach the food. As soon as he landed Isshin's voice boomed out into the silence, "_Gomennasai_ kids but Ukitake-_taichō_ wishes to make a more detailed report of Nakamura's behavior. Maukawa knows the way and I told him to show you, just let him know when you're ready to go." There was a pause and then Isshin's voice came, hushed, as if he were trying to keep someone on his end of things from hearing his next words. "Don't worry about the clothes Ju-kun brought for Yoru-kun leave them behind with Ryūken-kun..."


	11. Confessing Secrets

Confessing Secrets

Much like the day before when Ryūken had seen his princess curled so comfortably in someone else's-a stranger's!-arms, the Quincy felt the angry stab of jealousy. Kisuke only made it worse by making her purr after only a few minutes of scratching behind her ear.

"Don't worry," Kūkaku murmured, seeing the anxiousness in Ryūken's eyes and misunderstanding it. "Ukitake_-jiji_ is a nice guy."

"A _shinigami_ _taichō_," Kisuke gave a sigh and his _reiatsu_ announced his discomfort.

Ryūken glanced up from his sad pondering of the black kitten to Kisuke's face, trying to deduce how sincere he was until he felt his _reiatsu_-that had proven itself to be like a sniffing curious puppy since its awakening-the heavy dread in it settled the real concern he had put on the back burner. Yoruichi was going up against the senses of a captain, not that his only friend seemed to have found someone more interesting.

He knew the boy's knowledge on _shinigami_ was limited, living in _Rukongai_ he was bound to know more of the fantastical legends the villagers cooked up about their heroes. Meeting the Quincy-probably one of the only inhabitants of Soul Society that had less than adoration for the _Gotei_-was no doubt a shock for Kisuke. It seemed to be influencing his opinion of them, even after meeting Isshin. Maybe he suspected the truth?

That Isshin was the exception, not the rule?

"We'd better go," Kūkaku suggested, putting a reassuring hand on Ryūken's shoulder.

At those words Maukawa, who had been perched on Yoruichi's tail, took off. Kisuke turned and quickly followed and Ryūken didn't bother to hide his grimace as Kūkaku rushed after.

Problem was he had already turned to trudge dejectedly into the _shouten_ so missed the small black shape that darted through his legs. He stumbled to a halt as Yoruichi's familiar kitty _reiatsu_ washed over his toes and up his legs to get his attention. "Yoru-chan?"

The small kitten moved closer and let her front paws climb up his leg until she was standing on the back set. Ryūken obeyed the prompt and picked her up into his arms where she leaned up to press her paws into his chest, her golden eyes serious when he looked down into them. "You and I will always be friends, even when we find others."

"We?"

"Kisuke isn't just my friend he's our friend...**Actually** I think he's more your friend than mine," Yoruichi flattened both of her ears down onto her head and growled. "And Kūkaku-chan too?"

"No! No Yoru-_hime_," Ryūken gasped and looked away.

"Ryū-kun!" She tried to let him know she was joking with him. "How else could you prove your friendship? You asked for help from the only person you really dislike-"

"Kūku-chan's not so bad."

"And the _shinigami_ Ryū-kun?" Yoruichi gave a meow and was able to stretch up just enough to rub the fur of her cheek along the underside of his chin, purring loud enough that he could feel it.

"It's not like I pledged loyalty to Isshin-sama," Ryūken blushed and leaned down to place Yoruichi back on the ground. "You should hurry or Kūku-chan might come back looking for you."

"Fine, but we're not done discussing this," Yoruichi said in her most authoritative tone, and when she focused on such a thing it rang like a death bell.

"_Hai_, Yoruichi-sama!" Ryūken's body went ramrod straight and he bowed gently at the waist an unusual smile on his face, the worry she'd easily noticed from before gone.

Yoruichi nodded and with a _shunpo_ or two she was within sight of Kūkaku and Kisuke following Maukawa.

As she hurried after them she was surprised to encounter the warm curious _reiatsu_ of Kisuke set up around him like an early warning alarm. She would have given herself a few moments to examine the nuances of his spiritual pressure-she was still learning both Kisuke and Ryūken-but as soon as she came across it he spun to face her.

"_Koneko_-sama!" He leaned down, arms outstretched and she didn't hesitate to take a running leap into his arms. With a laugh he caught her to his chest and turned to catch up to Kūkaku and Maukawa. "Is Ryūken alright?" He murmured before Kūkaku came within hearing.

"I think so."

"What are you two going on about?" Kūkaku glanced over at them as they finally caught up.

"What do you think Ukitake-_taichō_ wants?" Yoruichi asked instead, as Kisuke started scratching that damn spot.

Purr.

Kūkaku laughed as the question was punctuated with the loud rumble. "Hara-chan I can't believe you keep makin' her do that."

Blushing Kisuke's hand moved back to cradling her instead of petting. He couldn't help it. "_Gomennasai_ maybe when I see you're really not a cat..."

"I don't recall complaining," Yoruichi growled and she felt Kisuke's _reiatsu_ relax, as well as the muscles of his arms.

"Um, purring has always been a good sound," Kūkaku nodded. "I just meant you're good at it Hara-chan."

Yoruichi giggled softly and made sure to keep quiet as they entered the compound from another larger entrance into a courtyard large enough to run drills. The office of the captain was the only brightly lit window and Maukawa made a beeline-butterfly-line?-to a partially open _shoji_ door.

Kisuke, still experimenting with the surprising amount of _reiatsu_ he still had, grinned like a fiend as he snuck his new sense out and sensed Isshin-he was bright and fresh like the sting of arctic waters-and with him-"_Kuso_!" He gasped and his steps faltered.

"You all right Hara-chan?" Kūkaku put a steadying hand on his shoulder.

"I am," He nodded and with a deep calming breath he pushed the door open further so that he could step into the threshold with Kūkaku. Although anyone that spoke of him had given Kisuke the impression Ukitake was an older man, along with the position as _taich_ō in the _Gotei_...But after feeling his _reiatsu_ Kisuke was surprised when he caught sight of the slight captain stretched out on a small chase a white handkerchief pressed to his mouth.

Isshin was standing to intercept Maukawa who had flown through the smaller opening easily before them. "Kids, I'm glad Maukawa didn't get you lost," His eyes fluttered to Yoruichi as he moved to re-release the butterfly before closing the _shoji_ door. "Ukitaki-_taichō_ wants to speak with Kisuke-kun."

"But I'm-" Cough. "Not doing nearly as..." Wheeze. "Well off as I-thought." Ukitake attempted.

Kisuke only moved forward because Kūkaku moved him as she moved forward with a firm hand on his shoulder. He looked at the angry writhing-but contained-_reiatsu_ of the white-haired man (he'd thought Ryūken's was the palest he could find). The room should have been filled with it...The pale captain smiled a moment as he met Kisuke's young curious eyes before hiding again behind his handkerchief to cough, that expression alone told the child he wasn't as old as he seemed.

"_Domo arigatō gozaimasu,_" Kisuke murmured with a small bow of his head. "_Koneko_-sama is almost healed from her nightmare."

"Did..." Ukitake tried to wheeze but his eyes squeezed shut as he trailed off into silence. After a moment to try and collect himself he suddenly looked up with the most grateful expression at the _shoji_ door only a moment before it slid open. "How did you-" Cough. "Know?"

"I can hear a Jū-chan cough no matter how far, no matter what realm..." The voice that drifted in through the door was lilting and poetic. The large scruffy man that stepped into view, peering out from under a _sakkat_ much like the _shinigami_ "guarding" the _Seireitei_ gate, was a surprise in comparison.

Kisuke couldn't see the newcomer's _reiatsu_ but he knew it was there, even under the embroidered pink _kimono_. From his shorter vantage point Kisuke could see the sharp and alert eyes meant to be shaded by his hat as they moved over the room's occupants, his posture becoming a bit more coiled-ready but with the appearance of lassitude.

"Erm, Ukitake-_taichō_," The brunette's voice lost the sing-song quality. "My I'm getting old; I didn't even realize you had guests." He moved to the chase and sat, his close proximity that of a close friend. The protective posture of the larger man intrigued Kisuke as he watched this new stranger.

As the curious boy absorbed each minute movement he took a smaller square of cloth from the sleeve of his _shihakushō._ His empty hand slipped around the captain to pull him closer and he pressed the folded handkerchief to Ukitake's mouth and nose.

"Is that _kidō_?" Kisuke blurted out before he thought about the consequences (like usual). He watched the soft glow emanating from the hand cupping the cloth to the sick man's face.

"'bout the only decent healing _kidō_ I can manage," The brunette glanced over as Ukitake removed his _sakkat_ and turned it over to swat him in the side of his head with it.

"So rude," Ukitake murmured softly as he snagged the cloth away just as his friend snatched his hat back.

"Ah! _Gomennasai!_" He replied with a small whine to his voice but a large grin on his face. "Kyōraku Shunsui, captain of the eight division."

Ukitake took a deep breath, relief clear on his face when he was able to do so clearly and smoothly. "My hero," He glanced over toward them as he continued Kyōraku's introduction with a small smile. "Who doesn't want me to put my foot through yet another _sakkat_ just because you forgot your manners?"

"No Ukitake-_taichō_," Kyōraku said with a roll of his eyes as he placed his hat on the nearby table instead of back on his head.

Ukitake moved to place his feet on the floor, sitting next to Kyōraku as he returned his attention to the children. "Did Nakamura torture the poor creature?"

"No," Kisuke murmured truthfully. "He wasn't nice about carrying her by her tail though!"

"Oh!" Kyōraku shook his head reaching out to run a finger along the kitten's ear. "Poor _Koneko_-chan!"

"She's been healed," Kūkaku explained quickly. "My brother is good with animals."

"Ju-kun?" Ukitake said with a sure nod, his face much calmer-much younger-his spiritual pressure now contained like Kyōraku's.

"_Taichō_?" Isshin moved to the _shoji_ door, pushing it open in time for Maukawa to flutter in and land in his raven hair.

"_Arigatō_, Isshin-kun," He stood and turned to Kūkaku. "Kūkaku-chan could you please tell Ju-kun hello for me?"

Kisuke saw the frustration and the anger in the girl's eyes as she gave a shallow bow of her head in response and left with her uncle. As they exited he caught sight of a familiar blond. "Ryūken-kun!" As he shouted a knot of worry suddenly developed in his stomach.

Ryūken closed the _shoji_ door behind him and as he looked up to meet Yoruichi's gaze a smile flickered over his lips. Kisuke was sure he'd imagined it, it was so quick.

"You can only stay if you can keep a secret Shu-kun..." Ukitake murmured to Kyōraku, who was at that very moment staring at the Quincy as if he had two heads.

"Sure can...Is that..." He turned to Ukitake and then back to Ryūken. "So rude," He told himself with a bow of his head. "Kyōraku Shunsui."

"Ryūken."

"Ryūken-kun," Kyōraku nodded and the grin returned to his unshaven face. "Are you a Quincy?"

Kisuke and Yoruichi were already masters at the different types of calm that the Quincy showed. His posture was usually strict, but never trembling and tight.

Ukitake sighed at the terrified coil of _reiatsu_ he could sense inside the boy. Both of the boys-even the kitten-had surprising control of their spiritual pressure. "Don't worry Ryūken-kun."

"I couldn't tell," Kyōraku laughed his hand a surprise as it tousled the Quincy's hair.

"I was paying attention and I sensed the _reiatsu_ that spiked in the seated officer barracks...I know Nakamura is a weaver of kidōs as well, so I assume you needed to break one to rescue your _koneko_-chan," Ukitake stood and moved to the large desk near the windows. "I don't suppose you knew your father long enough to learn our incantations?" He made it a question.

Knew his father...? Ryūken took a deep breath, slow so as to not be obvious. It was scary-after nearly eleven years-to suddenly have his deepest secrets known. And for it to be a _shinigami_-while not exactly a mortal enemy-that knew such things was frightening.

Sōken had brought him up not only with tales of the Quincy and their artifacts but also the _shinigami_ (who Ryūken couldn't help think Sōken really saw as kindred brothers) and what they were truly capable of. "_Bakudō_ 26 and 81."

"Ah, _yare yare_..." Kyōraku chuckled again and clapped his hand appreciatively.

"And you absorbed Kisuke-kun's _reiatsu_ to break the fifth seat's _kidō_, ne!" Ukitake nodded the bright smile on his face making him look more like his true age than anything Kisuke had seen so far.

"And you belong to the _Onmitsukidō_..." Kyōraku sighed in disappointment. "Too bad."

"I belong to Shihōin-_hime_," Ryūken corrected, fighting down the blush as he glanced over at Yoruichi, then remembered that the captains didn't know her true identity. Or did they? They seemed to know so much.

"Exactly," Kyōraku nodded as if he were agreeing with him. "Do you have family? You were born in Soul Society so...a clan with descent _reiatsu_." He aimed the question at the boy but looked over toward Ukitake who was at a bar behind the desk, making tea.

At the question the white-haired man looked over his shoulder and nodded to his friend. "Ah which clan Ryūken-kun?" He turned with a tray and moved back toward the chaise and the short-legged table.

Ryūken was still speechless, his eyes wide and owlish behind his glasses. "H-how do you know I was born here?"

"Yeah!" Kisuke jumped like he'd been bitten but it was only because he had suddenly recalled the curiosity for such a question earlier.

"Ah," Kyōraku winked at the boy. "It's a thing _shinigami_ are taught."

"Could I become a _shinigami_?" Kisuke asked and a moment after his eyes skittered over to Ryūken anxiously, knowing of his distrust of the _Gotei_.

"It's difficult," Ukitake mused as if thinking of his academy days. "Having spiritual energy isn't all that's required."

At those words he wished to enquire about the other things needed but this time thought of Ryūken soon enough to bite his tongue. "How can you tell the difference?" Kisuke murmured and his eyes went wide as Kyōraku stretched out his long arm and touched a fingertip to the center of his chest, just over Yoruichi's small ears. He looked down as he felt a strange hooking sensation behind his sternum and noticed a small loop of chain welded to a flat round base, no more than two inches in diameter in the center of his chest.

"Any soul that's been through the cycle of life has one," Ukitake murmured as he forgot the teapot in his hand, looking on to Kisuke's reaction at seeing the base of his _Saketsu_. "It's what keeps you linked with your mortal body in the world of the living."

"Ah, Jū-chan," Kyōraku sat back, lowering his hand to his lap and easily seeing the disappointment on Kisuke face as the strange chain disappeared. "He only had one link left."

"What does that mean?" Kisuke gasped, his hand moving to the spot where the chain had been and now felt no different than his normal chest, glancing down to meet Yoruichi's yellow eyes as she tried to stop staring at the back of his hand.

"Would you like some tea children?" Ukitake murmured instead and Ryūken was touching his own chest, wondering if his father had one of those-he'd always been told he'd found his way here without dying-just how..? "Ryūken-kun?"

He glanced up to see that Kisuke was staring at him, his own expression probably very similar and he made himself move forward to sit on one of the pillows as he tried to school the shell shocked look. "I have been keeping these secrets for as long as I've been able to keep secrets," His gaze flickered to Kyōraku as he sat on the adjacent side of the table across from Kisuke and Yoruichi.

"I don't blame you," Ukitake nodded solemnly as he started pouring tea into delicate cups. "There are those in the _Seireitei_ that wouldn't hesitate if you weren't so good at suppressing your _reiatsu_."

"And I usually keep to the palace. Honestly Kūkaku-chan is the closest I get to a _shinigami_, today was the first day I'd seen Isshin-sama," Ryūken looked over and noticed with irritation that Yoruichi had been forgotten when cups of tea were handed out. He tried to remember that she was in the shape of a cat, and not everyone knew she was fond of talking over tea.

As he glanced her way he found she was looking at him. He gave her a reassuring smile and didn't hesitate, "_Koneko_-chan would you like some of Ukitake-_taichō_'s tea..."

"Aw," Ukitake gave a small dip of his head. "_Gomennasai Koneko-_chan."

"It's all right Ukitake-_taichō_ she doesn't drink much," Ryūken gave a small startled jump when the kitten darted under the table and into his lap. He leaned back and she gave him a soft meow before climbing onto the table. "_Koneko_-chan," He muttered in a disapproving tone, mostly for getting up onto the table, cat shape or not.

"Don't worry Ryūken-kun. And please call me Jūshirō," Ukitake ordered softly as he watched Yoruichi lap up tea from Ryūken's cup.

"I call him Jū-chan," Kyōraku said sotto voce. "And you must call me Shunsui."

Ryūken only nodded in response, wondering if encouraging such a familiar relationship with such powerful _shinigami_ was wise. He watched Kisuke take a tentative drink of tea (probably because he'd already burned his tongue and throat with his first curious gulp).

"This is good stuff," He enthused the moment he glanced up to see Ryūken watching him.

"First time drinking tea Kisuke-kun?" Ukitake asked, his face almost lighting up as he realized. "Does Shihōin-sama not allow you-?"

"I'm not-" Kisuke suddenly started to object, long before he thought over the repercussions. "I...I don't live in the _Seireitei_."

Everyone was quiet a moment before Ukitake-far from the frail man of earlier-practically jumped to his feet and nearly _shunpoed_ to his desk. "Have you had chocolate?"

"Oh no, here we go..." Kyōraku laughed softly with a shake of his head. "Don't forget the sweet ginger!"

Simply grateful for his admission's casual dismissal Kisuke was easily overcome by his usual curiosity. "Sweet?"

Ryūken smothered a grin even as Yoruichi gave a plaintive meow and leapt off the low table to follow Ukitake. "_Koneko_-chan!"

"If you want some I'll cut some tiny pieces for you _Koneko_-chan," Ukitake said in a sing song voice.

"Shu-_taichō_," Kisuke paused to figure out how to word his question, now that he had succumbed yet again to curiosity. "That _kidō_ you used on Shirō-_taichō_ seem more powerful than you let on."

With a shake of his head a small frown tugged at the jovial captain, "That attack was a feeble one."

Startled by that idea Kisuke turned to stare as Ukitake brought a small plate back to the table. He didn't have to focus on his second sight, the freedom of his _reiatsu_ made it effortless for him to call upon that ability but as soon as it clicked on he gasped and hid his face in his hands.

"Kisuke-kun?" Everyone at the table noticed the flare of _reiatsu_. "What's wrong?"

The white-haired _taichō_ looked no different than anyone else to his strange second sight, except his lungs, which were a gory mess. A bad effect of his new spiritual pressure was his inability to see the movement of his life's blood in anything but real-and vivid-color. They were angry and hurt like the captain's _reiatsu_ had been before Kyōraku had come with his medicine and healing _kidō_.

"You're really sick," Kisuke whispered through his fingers and tears escaped his tightly closed eyelids.

"Am I?" Ukitake murmured the curiosity obvious in those two words. "How do **you** know Kisuke-kun?"

"I can see it," Kisuke shrugged and ran a sleeve over his tears before opening his eyes. "I've always been able to see like that...When Ryūken-kun helped give me _reiatsu_ it got easier."

"You see what?"

"I didn't give you _reiatsu_," Ryūken interrupted. "I woke yours up."

"Most definitely," Ukitake agreed, as if recalling the events themselves, and then he lifted the plate to bring it to the attention of the anxious boy. "Try this?" He met the teary eyes of the boy from under the mop of messy blond hair. "Oh come now! I already knew I was sick. I've been sick most of my life."

"You..." Kisuke looked at the chocolate and what he assumed must be the "sweet ginger" Kyōraku had mentioned. He was going to say more but he looked back up and saw the encouraging grin curving the _taichō'_s mouth. He took a deep breath to slow his heart and grabbed the largest chunk. "_Koneko_-sama?"

The growl he got in response surprised all but Ryūken. He rolled his eyes as she darted her golden gaze to him, expecting the Quincy to explain for her. _'I will not! He should call you Koneko-sama!'_ Was easily and haughtily conveyed.

Without his help Yoruichi merely ignored Kisuke's confused and slightly hurt expression while she devoured the chocolate and all but a few pieces of the ginger. Kisuke hid the questions away for a time when she could answer them and managed to bite off a sizeable piece of chocolate to chew. He looked up to meet Ukitake's expectant gaze and could only make appreciative noises as he quickly took another bite.

"So Kisuke-kun you can see illness?" Kyōraku's eyes met Ukitake's meaningfully and although all the children were preoccupied with drink or food all of them noticed the exchange.

"No," Kisuke did a similar meaningful sweep of his eyes to catch Yoruichi's acknowledging golden flicker and Ryūken brown as they appeared like magic from behind the sometimes obscuring glare of his glasses to meet his.

Everyone was curious, about him this time. Kisuke knew that Ryūken had gotten his secrets stripped from him on more than one occasion throughout this day-_wow it was just this morning I was throwing that flint stone like that would hurt its feelings..._ He reached into his borrowed pants' pocket where he'd transferred the small stones. He was sure the Quincy planned on telling his entire secret to Kisuke eventually-they had made a promise-and that meant telling a secret in return. The keen curiosity in both _shinigami_ captains' eyes made the choice easy too.

"So far I've hypothesized that what I'm seeing is life's blood as it flows through the body...Tessai...my friend, he..." He muttered into silence as he thought of the boy that had been his friend for so long, the first one to accept him for his strangeness and not just to keep from being a hypocrite.

The others kept quiet waiting for the boy to continue.

"He was the first one that had a glow, I actually found that out **after** meeting him since he was the only person I knew existed for a few weeks before he took me into the city and I saw everyone else didn't glow," He saw the laugh in Ukitake's eyes, and he had to smile and wonder how Kūkaku had though him old. "I found out it was his _reiatsu_...and now I have it," Kisuke's face scrunched up, he had through he'd exercised the ability to its fullest-here he was learning new things **still**.

"And," Kisuke's enthusiasm made his face shine, he was vocalizing ideas he'd been playing with while only half-occupied. "It's different than sensing it," He looked down to meet Yoruichi's gaze and she knew he was remembering their conversation. "At first I could only see it with this...second sight when it's still under the skin...Sometimes just outside the skin, and where people with it touch while they're using it."

A string of curses was accompanied by a disbelieving chuckle and Kyōraku pressed his hands together and bowed his head to the boy across the table from him. "Kisuke-kun it just occurs to me that it's getting past the time when children should be sleeping. This only happened because I wish to introduce you to a dear friend of Jū-chan and I, making me realize that she is probably in bed now as well."

"True Shunsui," Ukitake nodded sagely and as he stood he glanced down to Kisuke. "Sweets for the road?"

Ryūken rolled his eyes when Kisuke gave a cheer and he actually took Ukitake's hand and did an odd uncoordinated dance to where the chocolate was kept. He would have shared his feelings with Yoruichi but was pretty sure the princess wondered if they would remember her when considering how many sweets to take. He couldn't help but wonder-as he had been ever since Maukawa had shown up with a message that the Quincy had been the true subject of Ukitake's curiosity-exactly what the motives were behind the _shinigami taichō._

Yoruichi was trying to get his attention, and he was not about to ask for more chocolate for her. She gave a meow and swatted frustrated at the hand he held his teacup with.

"Are you all right _Koneko_-chan?" Kyōraku asked with a soft chuckle as the cat continued to growl and pounce on Ryūken's tea.

Ryūken looked down and Yoruichi gave a strange yowl, and he knew instantly that she really wanted to talk. Maybe she was curious herself, being a cat couldn't have helped. He noticed the cat's eyes move to something behind him and Ryūken looked up to see Kisuke standing behind him.

"Just ask," Kisuke was sure the leap from masculine-voiced kitten to princess wasn't just a leap of logic for him. "I'll ask if you wanna whisper it in my ear-if you're shy."

"Don't be surprised when I bite your ear _baka_," Yoruichi yowled without thinking. She heard Ryūken's groan exasperated and knew that the adults were surprised. It was obvious when their _reiatsu_ came close to reevaluate the kitten. She was sure she only sensed them because they really still saw her as a cat (albeit a talking one).

Good.

"Ah, _Koneko_-sama my heart!" Kisuke clamped his hand to his chest over his heart as if in pain, staggering as if he would feint.

Yoruichi didn't hold back the laugh when both _taichō_ did likewise. "Ukitake-"

"Jūshirō? _Koneko_-chan-or is it kun?"

"Chan," Ryūken answered for her and she gave him a thankful glance when she had nervously hesitated to answer.

"She said it was just how a feline voice box worked," Kisuke murmured helpfully.

"You had a question _Koneko_-chan? The last for tonight," Kyōraku prompted.

Ryūken watched, strangely awed at these two _shinigami_. He had though Isshin a rare case but these two-captains!-they weren't what Sōken had described.

"You spoke of clans," Yoruichi started, pulling the Quincy's attention back to her. "Speaking with Ryū-kun I was lead to believe _shinigami_ were responsible for their removal from the cycle of life."

"Yes."

Kisuke gasped as Ukitake nodded the anger at such a dishonorable action clear in his warm brown eyes. "What?"

"Where they are able," Ukitake muttered with some measure of shame for his brethren.

Yoruichi hesitated and looked at Kisuke as his _reiatsu_ jumped in anger before he dampened it. "Are there other Quincy?"

Ukitake looked agape a moment, maybe because of the impact of Ryūken's gaze as it flashed out from the cover of his glasses' glare. "_Shinigami_ aren't that involved in the true cycle."

"What do _shinigami_ do?" Kisuke blurted out... "Ne!" He growled with a shake of his head that dislodged some of his hair. "Forget I asked! Go on!"

The interruption seemed to have calmed the pale _taichō_, given him time to think a bit. He knew how important this was to the boy but there were some things he'd be duty bound to...**not** to...say. "Do you know _Koneko_-chan? You need to understand your question."

"Originally they were only created to protect the _Seireitei_ and the nobles from hollow. That is really their first duty, to protect all of Soul Society. Up until then it was each clans' guard acting as militia only occasionally successful in defeating hollow, but Yamamoto_-soutaichō_ decided to take the successful fighters and teach their methods," Ryūken explained for Kisuke since he knew that Yoruichi already knew.

More questions came to be at that small bit of information, and Kisuke pushed the urge to shout them down. Tessai had once mentioned being chased by a hollow but wouldn't go into detail, and the younger boy always wished to know what had terrified his friend so.

"Less hollows in Soul Society would seem like a good thing," Ryūken continued. "But that just meant more of them decided to go to the World of the Living."

"That's where they found that they could help stem the tide of hollow even more," Ukitake surprised the boy by interrupting. "_Shinigami_ also help souls that die before the end of their mortal lifespan...Those are the souls in _Rukongai_."

"Most of the time," Kyōraku gave the Quincy a wry grin as he showed his well of knowledge. "The souls go on their way all by themselves, but some get delayed for whatever reason, they get lost, attached by some emotion, family, confusion..."

"_Konsō_," Ryūken murmured and Kisuke saw the smile on his new friend's face. It was the first one of those he'd seen in regards to something _shinigami_. "The new flood of hollow into the World of the Living made them realize they had to find these confused souls because if left on their own they become hollow. Since their patrols of the World of the Living were still hampered by numbers, some humans decide to take care of the hollow while the _shinigami Konsōed_ them before their chains suffered the Last Erosion. That's what the Quincy were made to do. We were tired of you not getting the job done."

The room fell silent again and Ryūken cursed his own pale face as he blushed, "_Sumimasen._"

"No," Ukitake shook his head. "We have been making more of an effort to increase the _Gotei_ ranks to rectify that," He explained. "Ah, but I'm getting off-topic."

"The cycle of life can only truly be altered by the Spirit King..." Ukitake started again. "If a soul's lifetime in the World of the Living isn't taken early there is no trip to Soul Society it's straight on to the next life, heaven, or hell a _shinigami_ can't touch that."

"So there might be Quincy that slip through-" Kisuke explained as if he'd been waiting for a reason not to hate _shinigami_.

"Quite a lot actually," Ukitake corrected and his eyes met Ryūken's. "Even after a few centuries of feuding with the _shinigami_..." A soft sad chuckle left Ukitake and he still looked as vibrantly youthful but for his eyes. "Fighting over who got to do the protecting."

Ryūken knew Ukitake might have looked young but the true length of his existence showed in the wisdom of his eyes. "M-my..." He took a deep breath to calm himself. "My father always hoped _shinigami_ would be able to effectively carry such a burden alone."

"I only know a few Quincy that share such a belief," Kyōraku's eyes were much brighter than expected, as if he knew something and was pleased with how he'd figured it out. "The majority have come to believe that it's now only their job to protect the humans, since they themselves are human, because we have failed at it."

"Those Quincy and the _shinigami_ that feel they're interfering are still small enough in population that there is balance," Ukitake gave a sigh and poured himself more tea. "The _Gotei _is still fleshing out it's ranks...Mostly uneducated from _Rukongai_-who are just as good as _Seireitei_ born but..."

"Most nobles aren't interested," Yoruichi mumbled.

"How could they not be?" Kisuke groaned as if chastising Yoruichi. "Don't they wanna protect their people?"

"It's a **good **thing that they're not interested," Yoruichi growled back.

"Nobles hate Quincy," Ryūken interrupted softly, looking up to see Kisuke open his mouth to argue. "Jūshirō-_taichō_?"

"That was what I was implying," Ukitake nodded with a sip of tea. "Kaien-kun is the first of the generation to have the power and inclination and I daresay Kūkaku-chan and Ganju-kun will follow in his footsteps."

"We're becoming their bedtime stories," Kyōraku said with impish glee. "Yama-_jiji_ is even getting the curiosity of the Kuchiki."

Kisuke even knew who the Kuchiki clan was thanks to Tessai, and some of the more knowledgeable farmers that they had tricked out of food over the years. He had even gotten information with his incessant questions about some of the smaller clans (like Kyōraku). "I thought the only Kuchiki heir was a daughter."

Once again Kisuke found himself the center of the room's attention. "I try to learn everything I can from the people I meet," Kisuke said with a shrug.

"You certainly do Kisuke-kun," Ukitake seemed impressed by the inquisitive boy's knowledge. "And you are correct. Any more gossip?"

Blushing Kisuke tried, "The clan is still recovering from the dishonor of losing her husband."

Yoruichi gave a growl low in her throat that only Kisuke and Ryūken heard. Ryūken knew it had to do with the current comfort level between the Kuchiki and Shihōin houses.

They had been close before, her mother had grown up with Kuchiki-_hime_, fallen in love with the man she'd been betrothed to since birth (Yoruichi's father) and stole him. Things had gotten better when Kuchiki-_hime_ found her own love and then only slightly worse since he'd lost his wife and sequestered Yoruichi from the world.

Now things were better-not Yoruichi's opinion-and the Kuchiki heir had been seeing her father...alone. From kitty eavesdropping Yoruichi knew they spoke about her mom a lot (that was why she fell asleep just listening to their memories).

Heart-warming jaunts down memory lane were nice, but she had decided young that there would be no loveless political marriages for her father. He knew only her mother and real love, the kind that hurt forever when it was gone.

"I believe it is Yama-_jiji_'s old friend from the military days...Ginrei-dono, one of the nobles that helped him found the academy-even taught there!"

"Current Head of the clan," Kisuke proved his gift at questioning, surprising everyone yet again. "He should be a captain."

"I'm sure Yama-_jiji_ would agree...And goodness we've not kept well to the one question rule," Ukitake sighed.

"Ah Jū-chan!" Kyōraku gave a small whine. "It's the conversation topic you know! _Shinigami_ vs. Quincy is almost a hotter subject than clan scandal," He teased and lifted his tea to gulp it down. "We definitely must meet for tea again...Next time you can meet Retsu-chan... She'll love you Kisuke-kun."


	12. Yoruichi's Counteroffer

**A/N - **Okay just a little translation to be nice..._Yokatta_ - (direct translation: was good) using it as just "Good!", _gundanchō - __Onmitsukidō _corps commander, _sōshireikan - (_not hard to guess_) _commander-in-chief of _Onmitsukidō_, _Oyasuminasai - _good night (when one is going 2 sleep)_._

* * *

Yoruichi's Counteroffer

They were able to convince the captains that they would be able to find their way safely back to the _shouten_. For most of the journey they were quiet until Yoruichi finally broached a subject.

"You should tell Sōken," Yoruichi quickly felt the change in the boy's arms.

"No."

They stopped, just outside the compound so Ryūken could give her a hard glare. A familiar reaction to suggestions-or any real mention-about his family.

"Ryūken-kun," Kisuke stepped closer and tried a half-hug. "Don't worry, they have really nice uniforms but I think I'd rather be a Quincy...That bow!"

Yoruichi felt the tension start to leave Ryūken's frame and so decided to bring that particular topic up later. Right now, "You should see a _zanpakutō_."

"Any _shinigami_ with _shikai_ or above aren't allowed to carry their _zanpakutō_ inside the _Seireitei_ outside of war."

Yoruichi laughed softly and the quick taunt-like rule recital. "I always wondered why you knew so much about the _shinigami_, you made them sound like your mortal enemies-"

Both Kisuke and Yoruichi were surprised when Ryūken dumped the kitten in the other boy's arms before turning and disappearing in a _hirenkyaku_. "Ryūken-kun?" Kisuke gasped as he held Yoruichi securely.

"Put me down!"

Knowing he'd be alone the moment he did Kisuke paused, "Should I find a gate out of the _Seireitei_?"

"No!" Yoruichi stopped trying to wiggle free. "Straight to the _shouten_!"

"_Hai_!" Kisuke put her down and she was gone. "Whoa!" He straightened and watched her glowing, skipping form in the dark.

So he could still see _reiatsu_ with his eyes, the stuff that flowed under the skin-a skill reinforced with his awakened spiritual energy (to a gory level).

Before his second sight had only made the skin seem thinner, showing the flow of blood in the veins. Whenever he tried to use it now the skin and tissue was no visual barrier to anywhere blood flowed in the body.

It would take some getting used to, but until he did, he had his _reiatsu_ to play with.

* * *

Ryūken made himself stop when tears threatened. He was a few yards away from the west servants' entrance at the Shihōin palace. He was only relaxed a moment before he sensed another's _reiatsu_. "You've gotten faster?" He asked the night around him.

"I just guessed where you'd go...I can fit through a few more shortcuts than you in this shape," Yoruichi glanced up as Ryūken's gaze found hers as if he could see in the dark.

"I wanted to remind you," She quickly went on as he shuffled a few tiny steps closer to her, as if doubting the move even as he was making it. "That I know _shinigami_ killed your clan...I remember-even though you ordered me to forget we'd ever talked about it."

"And you decided to ignore that order?"

Yoruichi took in his body language; the lenses of his glasses were glowing yellow from the palace lanterns, eyes hidden. "You didn't say please _baka_!" She moved closer, until she had to crane her head back to look up at him. "I figured you out, you know."

"Have you?" Ryūken muttered as he lowered onto his knees sitting back on his feet.

"You had a fight with him," Yoruichi moved until her front paws rested on one of his knees. "With your father." It was only part of the hypothesis she had developed over the years of their friendship, with the pieces of information she'd managed to glean.

"Why do you think that?"

"I've known you long enough Ryūken..." Yoruichi murmured softly. "If there's anything I've learned is your pride and equal hatred of being a Quincy."

"Hatred!" Ryūken started shocked.

"Not **all** of it! Just some...some things you'd rather not pass on from your father's generation to yours," Yoruichi saw the knuckles of his hands go white where his fists clenched in his lap.

"What do you know? Your father keeps all your birthrights from you!"

Both Ryūken and Yoruichi were surprised at the angry shout that spilled from him like an accusation. "You're right I don't know...but I understand being angry at _otousan_ for not letting me make those choices for myself," Yoruichi knew she'd hit the nail on the head when surprise and guilt shown out from his luminous eyes.

"I don't care if the Ishida's were some famous Quincy inventors...What if I don't want..." He angled his glasses so they obscured his eyes as a breath shivered into his lungs-failing to calm him like he'd hoped. When he tried to continue the words came out in a trembling whisper, "What if I don't want to be a Quincy?"

"You don't have to be!" Yoruichi made an effort to climb into his lap if only to get closer to his face. "You..." She whispered hesitantly, the rest of her hypothesis on how the boy had come to live, not only in the _Seireitei,_ but in a noble clan's palace. "Ran away from Sōken, all you have to do is whatever makes you happy."

Shocked Yoruichi could only give a startled meow when Ryūken hugged her. She wished this singular occasion had happened when she had arms to hug him back though.

"I want to protect my best friend," His voice was so faint only her feline ears picked out the words, his face hidden as his cheek rubbed along the fur atop her head.

"Then you'd better not only use your Quincy archery but the elite _hakuda_ of the Shihōin's _Onmitsukidō_," Yoruichi didn't want the embrace to end. His fuzzy electrical _reiatsu_ wrapped around her in his arms and chest and although it communicated his sorrow it also told her his intent, it was fiercely protective.

"We learn together _hime_," Ryūken seemed to realize he was smothering a princess in the shape of a cat. He though he heard a whine of disappointment as he quickly loosened his hold. "_Sumimasen_-"

"No," Yoruichi made herself move back to the ground. "In fact remind me to do that again as soon as I'm human."

"Yoruichi-_hime-_"

"Race you to the _shouten_!"

Ryūken was in the act of pushing his glasses up his nose, mouth open to object when Yoruichi simply vanished. He stuttered a moment, "N-no shortcuts!"

* * *

Isshin was sitting on a box beside the _shouten_ door, the lights in the front rooms weren't lit but Yoruichi could see dim lights reflecting from the back with her powerful feline eyes. She knew it was dark and wondered how Ryūken had still managed to tie her. She had even used unlit alleys and the Quincy had stayed just behind her.

Even after flash stepping so furiously both to the Shihōin palace then to the _shouten_ the Quincy was barely breathing hard. Yoruichi could feel his prickly _reiatsu_ still buzzing from _hirenkyakuing_ as fast as he could.

"Ah," Isshin applauded as the two appeared in front of him at the same time. "That was fun to watch."

Ryūken nodded and didn't hesitate to scoop Yoruichi into his arms. She felt his heart thundering with exhilaration; it could be the only excuse for the blazing smile on the Quincy's stoic face. "I'm faster but you can jump further," He said with a soft chortle of laughter.

Isshin stood and led them inside. "Kū-chan and I convinced Furui-san you were spending the night here. She played a convincing you," Isshin closed the doors behind them and ushered them into the back.

"_Domo arigatō gozaimasu_, Isshin-sama," Ryūken murmured as they found Kisuke and Kūkaku asleep already.

"I told her to go to her room. She insisted that with Kisuke's constant questions she'd be fine," He glanced back to Yoruichi. "I figured he didn't have a place yet," He murmured about Kisuke.

"Enlistment isn't until the day after tomorrow," Yoruichi recalled as she was deposited on a pillow, eyes riveted to Kisuke's sleeping face.

Both of them were half-buried in pillows but Kūkaku's head was resting on Kisuke's stomach and she currently had her thumb in her mouth, the other fingers sandwiched with Kisuke's.

"Guess he fell asleep and his silence spelled her doom," Isshin chuckled and he moved toward the hidden stairs. "I'll be right back."

In truth Kisuke found that people spoke freely around sleepers, as if they weren't there at all. His curiosity was barely contained as both Yoruichi and Ryūken's _reiatsu_ finished calming down to basically nothing after their race. Then utter silence.

_Argh_!

"_Koneko_-sama?" He lifted his head up to see over the pillows just as Yoruichi did likewise, tiny ears angled forward and alert. "I thought you got lost."

"You're awake," Ryūken gave a soft nod, pleased that they could all talk for a few moments alone.

"I'm too excited to sleep," Kisuke glanced down where his hand was trapped in Kūkaku's and then to where her head lay cushioned on a pillow over his stomach.

He glanced back to see Yoruichi was now perched on a pillow right next to his head. "Isshin-sama said I could stay-"

"Do you want to live in the _Seireitei_?"

"What?" Kisuke was thrown for a loop at the question.

"Yoru-chan maybe you should see if he even wants to join?" Ryūken suggested.

"Do you want to learn how to fight?"

"Fight?" Kisuke shook his head in bewilderment and he saw Yoruichi's very obvious roll of her yellow kitty eyes.

"The Shihōin guard, the _Onmitsukidō_ is enlisting the day after tomorrow. I convinced the man in charge of the guard to open recruitment to anyone that shows skill."

"Skill in what?"

"Protecting others," Ryūken answered crawling toward them over the pillows. "You don't have to have a fighting style; all you have to be able to do is throw a punch. Can you manage that?"

"He's not clumsy!" Yoruichi said defensively.

"I know that!" Ryūken said, equally as defensive. He seemed as if he wanted to say more but at that moment Isshin appeared with Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko.

"Oh you're awake Kisuke-kun," Isshin nodded with a smile as Koganehiko moved to carefully pick up the sleeping Kūkaku.

Shiroganehiko moved quickly to support the thumb in her mouth, gently prying fingers apart. Kūkaku slept on oblivious as the two took her to her room at the _shouten_.

"Wish I could stay but I've got guard duty in twenty minutes," Isshin murmured in an apologetic tone as Kisuke sat up and stretched. "Kids there's a room at the end of the hall, next door to Kū-chan's."

Ryūken frowned inwardly at the idea of making Yoruichi share a room with the likes of Kisuke and him. He saw the kitten nod and was about to object for her when Isshin spoke again.

"Yoru-chan, Kū-chan had a futon set up for you in her room if that's all right. I think Shiroganehiko put your clothes with it," Isshin mused and Kisuke noticed the _shinigami_ was quite distracted.

Having himself felt unsatisfied curiosity Kisuke recognized it as soon as he saw it in the dark-haired man. "Isshin-sama?"

He stopped at the door into the _shouten_ proper and met the boy's gaze. "Kisuke-kun?"

"Is something wrong, you look anxious," Kisuke commented.

"I was just...Ukitake-_taichō_ had me worried a moment when he sent me away."

"We just spoke about Quincy and how odd Kisuke-kun is," Ryūken reassured Isshin.

"_Domo_," Kisuke rolled his eyes. "Go Isshin-sama fulfill your duties as a _shinigami_, guard better than the two I snuck by tonight."

Everyone laughed as Yoruichi chimed in with, "Twice!"

"All right, _Konbanwa,_" He called before disappearing out the door.

With a groan Kisuke got to his feet, half asleep from relaxing in the pillows eavesdropping. He grabbed the blue pillow he'd been using, knowing any other pillow would fail to be as comfortable.

"I'm going to go change," Yoruichi murmured and started ahead of the boys to the stairs. "We're not done talking."

Ryūken saw Kisuke bite his tongue-since when did he know how to do that?!-as the kitten disappeared behind the tapestry. "Yoru-chan is the heir of the 22nd head of the Shihōin clan. And like Yoru-chan, her mother-although the fiercest warrior and leader of the _Onmitsukidō_-was the only heir and her father wouldn't allow her to control the clan alone. She was lucky enough to fall in love (and have that choice), but unfortunate enough for it to happen with an overprotective _baka_ that wouldn't know the pointy end of the sword from the blunt end."

As intended Kisuke was momentarily distracted by the Quincy's words as he held open the painting for them to pass through. "And the _Onmitsukidō _are like the police?"

"They protect and serve the Shihōin clan, whatever the head of the family orders are. The only official duties are to help the family and guard the Maggot's Nest."

"M-maggot's Nest?" Kisuke paused between steps and tried to meet Ryūken's eyes, but the stairs weren't lit.

"Where dangerous people are kept."

"But aren't bad people supposed to go to hell?"

Now it was Ryūken's turn to stare at Kisuke as the question popped out. "Soul Society is for souls with interrupted lives...Good or bad..." Ryūken explained. "But I wish to bring to your attention my choice of words."

"Um," Kisuke lowered his voice to a whisper as they came to the small hallway and jumble of doors. "You said the Maggot's Nest was for bad people."

"I said 'dangerous,' Kisuke-kun," Ryūken corrected just as quietly-why?-Kūkaku would sleep through the destruction of Soul Society!

"A jail for good people?"

"Why would you say that?" Ryūken moved to slide open the door, the room empty but for the two futons in pristine white linens.

"_Yokatta! _I'm glad I bathed," Kisuke muttered blinking as Ryūken lit the lanterns at the head of each futon. "From what I've gathered with just bits and pieces the _shinigami_ and the Quincy don't like each other. I've seen you break a fifth seat's _kidō_ obviously you could be considered dangerous."

"I suppose."

"You're not bad. You're trying to get me a way to live in the _Seireitei_, answering all my questions," At the last part he gave Ryūken a big grin. "Would you get put in there?"

Ryūken was saved from having to answer-since they'd mostly likely kill him on the spot-as a faint knock sounded on the _shoji_ doorframe. "Enter."

Kisuke turned away as the door slid open just enough to fit Yoruichi's slender body through, then she shut it behind her. The moment she'd opened it her eyes had sought out Kisuke's only to meet the back of his blond messy head.

Someone had gone to get clothes for her from her bedroom so she was in her third favorite _yukata_ and second favorite slippers. When Kisuke didn't turn at her arrival she gave Ryūken a perplexed frown.

"Kisuke-kun?"

At the sound of her voice butterflies leapt to life in his stomach. It was feminine but there was some part of it that brought to mind the black kitten. He though he'd battled back an unexplainable blush but then she put a hand on his shoulder and it burned anew.

"Are you all right?"

"F-fine."

"I'm finally myself and you're shy?" Yoruichi teased. "Turn around."

When she spun him around she was faced with tightly closed eyes. A careless laugh blew hot breath over his chin and the joyous sound was so surprising his eyes fluttered open.

"Now, how bad was that?" Yoruichi grinned even though he hadn't moved his gaze from her eyes.

They were still gold.

After a startled moment he focused on that, trying to calm the hell butterflies that had taken up residence in his belly. He had been worried since Yoruichi had revealed her secret-always on the backburner stewing deep in his mind-that their developing friendship might be devastated in its infancy because the human princess wouldn't be _koneko_-sama.

Something had pulled him to her, not only her but Ryūken-although drastically different-they felt like kindred spirits. He'd felt a faint echo of this the day he'd found himself in that lake.

He'd followed it to Tessai.

Boy, did he **not** want he and Yoruichi (and thereby he and Ryūken) to go the same way.

"He's not even looking at you," Ryūken observed loudly.

Yoruichi distractedly listened to Ryūken as intense green eyes aflame with fear and curiosity bore into hers. "Do you want me to turn back into a cat?"

"No!" Kisuke's eyes quickly took in her face, the only important part. She was obviously human-a little shorter than he-there'd be two legs and arms, toes and fingers, no tail. After the first quick sweep he was helpless to stop the soft smile that curved his lips, he tried to connect the kitten and the girl.

Although his eyes roved over every detail of her face-completely ignoring below her chin-Yoruichi felt a blush at his gaze. Committing each freckle and eyelash to memory, the feline slant and shape of her eyes. "Well?"

"I like your hair," Kisuke found himself blurting out. "I thought it'd be black."

Yoruichi surprised him by flipping a long bound length of purple hair over her shoulder that reach down to her waist. "I couldn't be a purple talking cat now could I?" They both laughed even as Kisuke's fingertips brushed the ends of the shorter hair cut to frame her face, it had made him think all of her hair was short, but she had a tail. "The front part kinda looks like kitty ears."

Ryūken's body went very still, spine straight, eyes narrowing behind his glasses at Kisuke's far too familiar touch; he hadn't been all that pleased when she had touched his shoulder. He was sure he made a noise, something that alerted Yoruichi and as she turned her head, so did Kisuke to fix their eyes on him.

Kisuke looked surprised and confused and very worried as he saw Ryūken's angry (and very proper) posture. "Ryūken-kun?'

When the Quincy glanced over to see the grin that lit Yoruichi's face his irritation was driven out by dread. "Don't mind Ryū-kun," She moved to drop down at the edge of the futon Ryūken sat in the middle of. "He just wants his human Yoruichi hug."

"Yoruichi-" Ryūken protested as the girl threw herself across the futon, wrapped her arms around his waist and squeezed.

Kisuke couldn't contain the laughter as he saw Ryūken's eyes go wide in alarm, and immediately swung toward the other boy.

Maybe he'd rather hug in private?

"Argh! He's trying to get away Kisuke!" Yoruichi tried to squeeze Ryūken but he was just as serious about getting free.

Before thinking-surprise, no doubt the lack of honorific's fault-Kisuke hurried across the small room and threw his arms around Ryūken, chest to back effectively sandwiching the Quincy between them.

Yoruichi gave a laugh that put Kūkaku's maniacal cackle to shame as she wiggled her arms from between the two to capture fistfuls of Kisuke's borrowed clothes, to trap the boy even more.

After a moment of struggle Ryūken made himself go still, knowing if he got too upset his _reiatsu_ wouldn't stay easy to control, to blot out. He was breathing only a little harder than usual. "This is so wrong."

"No Ryū-kun!" Yoruichi sighed into his ear; she and Kisuke had rested their chins on opposite shoulders. "All I wanted was my hug."

Kisuke pulled his head back so he could meet Yoruichi's gaze. "You should have made me leave," He murmured. "Or waited 'til tomorrow when you could do it in private."

Yoruichi knew the sharp boy was right when she felt the little bit of relaxing Ryūken's muscles had achieved so far regress at Kisuke's words. She pulled back and watched Kisuke compensate, chin on shoulder so he could see her.

"_Gomennasai_, Ryū-kun," Yoruichi met the brown eyes as they strained to peer at Kisuke without moving his head.

"It..." Ryūken frowned as he met her golden eyes and he tried to pull off a frustrated sigh but the exhale of breath noticeably trembled from his lungs. He clenched his teeth together angry with himself for this weakness, this embarrassment over simple human contact. "It's fine."

"Hm," Kisuke whispered in his ear, distracting him. "Don't seem fine."

"_Teme..._Urahara."

"Heh, definitely not fine," Yoruichi moved her chin back to Ryūken's shoulder and she felt one of his arms move from their stiff position at his sides to curl around her with a tentative squeeze. "That's better."

Kisuke felt Yoruichi's grip loosen as her arms slipped between he and Ryūken to hug only the Quincy. Knowing he'd quickly become the third wheel he pulled back.

Ryūken's firm grip on the arm curled around his middle stopped him. As he gave an insistent tug for escape, Ryūken glanced back over his shoulder. "I don't do this often."

"He means get all the hugs you want now!" Yoruichi exclaimed, arms tightening around him. "While you still can!"

With a nervous laugh Kisuke moved his arms back into place. He hadn't gotten many hugs growing up with Tessai but for somehow he knew he liked them. It wasn't like he was starved for physical touch because surviving alone with Tessai in _Rukongai_ had taken away his concept of personal space.

He knew what it was but had eventually developed a level of comfort with others invading it. The only one that had done it frequently had been Tessai and until their last conversation he'd only moved to touch him to help him (keep him warm, fix his hair).

The boy in his arms was relaxed now, one arm tight around Yoruichi, the other stretched back to press between Kisuke's shoulder blades.

"I could fall asleep like this," Kisuke mused with a happy chuckle, tilting his head to rest his ear on Ryūken's shoulder.

"This is inappropriate enough," Ryūken grumbled, but he didn't release either of them.

This was why Yoruichi was so uncouth? He'd thought she'd forced enough hugs on him for their purpose to be clear, but they'd always been brief and cut short by him. The warmth that being this close physically generated a different type of warmth, happiness? He felt safer.

A brief flash of the three of them huddled together for comfort and solace under the pristine futon blankets flashed through his mind. It brought another memory, just as happy and comforting, but decidedly more melancholy of when he used to sleep in the protective arms of his father.

"Are you at the maximum hug allowance?" Yoruichi asked, sensing even the small coiling of his muscles as he thought of Sōken.

"No."

Pleased the princess gave a contented sigh and wound her fingers back in Kisuke's tunic.

"But you'd better speak to Kisuke-kun about something or he'll be drooling in my hair," Ryūken announced drily.

"All right, good idea you'd be too modest," Yoruichi teased. "Ryūken told the Head of the Guard to stuff it-"

"Yoru-chan!" Ryūken actually heard Kisuke jerk awake as he moved abruptly back to catch Yoruichi's gaze. "I didn't-"

"I'm only kidding!" Yoruichi kept her face firmly hidden against his shoulder. "This _baka_ lied to the Head of the Guard to distract him so I could sneak back into the palace."

"Hey..."

"You wanted the truth, ne?" Yoruichi laughed softly and this time didn't argue when Ryūken tried to break the embrace.

They didn't move far from each other, Ryūken turned so they made a small circle on the futon. "I distracted Furui-san and of course he wanted a pound of flesh when he found out I'd lied to him. Princess here, decided to ask Furui-san not to hurt me..."

Kisuke smothered a pleased grin at the blush that cut off the Quincy's next words.

"He only calls me that when he wants to really call me nasty names," Yoruichi told Kisuke in a conspiratory half-whisper.

"I don't-"

"_Gomennasai, _Ryūken-kun but you said 'princess' the same way _Koneko_-sama said '_baka_' a moment before," Kisuke informed the Quincy.

"I told Furui-_jiji_ that Ryū-kun was my only friend," Yoruichi made Ryūken's face burn even brighter. "He thought it was bad, me becoming friends with a common gardener."

"Furui-san offered to become my sponsor so I could join the Guard," Ryūken recalled and shook his head, still displeased with the trick the old man had tried to pull.

"Sponsor?"

"I don't have a family, noble or otherwise. In fact if anyone met Sōken, "He didn't want to continue that line of thought. "You need one...I don't know why they're so into it..."

"Families..." Yoruichi tried to explain, she'd heard it a few times. "Without them you have to prove your name has honor alone."

"Huh?" Kisuke's eyebrows lifted in confusion.

"Furui-_jiji_ only cares that a candidate be raised among warriors, taught to be a fighter from the first step...Even taught a personal style of fighting. The _Onmitsukidō_ actually looks for members like that in order to bring new ideas into the organization," Yoruichi described.

"So he wanted to make you a guard, are they less common than gardeners?" Kisuke prompted.

Ryūken shook his head with a huff of breath that sounded suspiciously like laughter. "The only reason he decided to do it was to get me as far away from Yoru-chan as he could, he'd no doubt make me move to the trainee barracks."

"It's a building on the opposite side of the palace grounds, the furthest from my room."

"That's not nice," Kisuke frowned; surprised that hadn't occurred to him.

"I told him I'd do it if he let Yoru-chan join too."

"Does your family have a fighting style?" Kisuke suddenly asked Yoruichi. "Ryūken-kun said your mother was a skilled fighter."

Surprised Yoruichi nodded sadly, "She taught one person-her _gundanchō_, her highest corps commander-before I was born just in case, but as long as _Otousan_ forbids it she can't teach me."

"Just in case?"

Ryūken listened intently as Yoruichi described the unexplained early death of her uncle Sousosei. He had known there had once been more Shihōin (obviously), but his tightlipped stance on the topic of his family had the unexpected consequence of Yoruichi also withholding information.

"Since it happened decades before my birth all I have is _otousan_'_s _bedtime stories and whatever I can overhear while I prowl the palace as a cat," Yoruichi's gaze was directed at the swath of white blanket showing in the middle of their circle, she didn't know if she would get upset and if she did she wouldn't let them see it. "By the time he died _Okaasan_ had already fallen in love and married a noble from one of the lower noble houses, and the Shihōin didn't object since she was second born. _Ojiisama_ took him in and treated him like a son, especially when Sousosei-sama died."

"Furui-san says it was as if she was born to lead _Onmitsukidō_," Ryūken murmured to Yoruichi and she lifted her eyes to his in surprise.

"She was a _gundanchō_ before Sousosei-died," Yoruichi continued. "She was _sōshireikan_ for over a decade before I was born and..." She quickly moved her eyes away.

"She died having you?" Kisuke asked bluntly and he noticed how tightly her fingers were clenched together in her lap.

"I overheard _Otousan_ say that she didn't even get to hold me," She looked up startled as Kisuke leaned forward and untwisted her fingers so he could take her hand.

"So who knows?"

"No one will tell me her name but I know Furui-_jiji_ and _Otousan_ know her," Even though she still felt frustrated the warm reassuring squeeze of Kisuke's hand was a comfort. "I used to use my other form to get information but I haven't been able to figure out where they keep the _Onmitsukidō's_ history."

Although Ryūken tried his best to ignore the hand holding, the Quincy couldn't help shooting Kisuke a pointed look. As he looked up however he found Kisuke was already looking meaningfully at him. Confused Ryūken followed Kisuke's leading eyes down to where Yoruichi and his hands rested on her knee. Ryūken glanced up to the dejected princess before his hand moved of its own volition to weave their fingers together.

Yoruichi looked up with teary eyes a smile splitting her face. "One day I hope _Otousan_ will see how alike _Okaasan_ and I are."

Both boys got a squeeze from Yoruichi's fingers. "I suggested he open the recruitment to children of _Rukongai_ so that I could enlist as an orphan. The extra influx of _Rukongai_ kids and a mask and _Otousan_ won't even notice me," The tears vanished as pride shown brilliantly from her golden eyes.

"So tomorrow we'll teach you what little we know and if you're as fast a learner as you seem you'll be enlisting with us the day after that," Ryūken was pleased as Yoruichi's fingers clung to his.

"Questions?"

Kisuke bit his bottom lip, eyes slowly rolling upward as he pondered all of the questions jumping up and down to get his attention. "What will we call you?"

Ryūken's brown eyes met Yoruichi's yellow, both startled that they hadn't thought about that themselves. "Um..."

"We have some time, let's all sleep on it?" Yoruichi suggested.

"Good idea," Kisuke said between a yawn. "This is the first time I've slept in a real bed."

Yoruichi released Ryūken, got up and tugged on Kisuke's hand until he followed. "Then you'll have to do it properly."

Ryūken watched in mild dismay as Yoruichi threw the covers back so Kisuke could get under them.

"Bedtime Ryū-kun," Yoruichi said in a sing song voice. She waited until he grumbled and turned to get in his futon.

"_Domo arigatō Koneko-_sama," Kisuke murmured as Yoruichi tucked him in like Geboku always did for her.

"My name is Yoruichi," Yoruichi gently objected as she leaned over to blow out the lantern beside his futon. "If we're going to be friends you'd better forget that, '_hime_' and 'sama' nonsense."

"_Hai_!" Kisuke nodded his mouth gaping open as he yawned again and this time it jumped to the princess.

"_Oyasuminasai,_" She yawned with a smile and gave Kisuke's blankets a pet before crawling over to Ryūken's bedside.

"Do you always have to be so informal?" Ryūken murmured as she pulled the covers up and tucked in the Quincy as well.

"Always Ryūken..." Yoruichi echoed with a nod and a cocky grin as Ryūken sputtered a moment. "Always..." She leaned over to put out his lantern.

"_Oyasuminasai,_" Ryūken grumbled in a surly tone, mostly because she had had that grin on her face again right before blowing the light out. This time-in the semi-privacy of the dark-it didn't bring on a flood of dread but nervous anticipation.

He felt her hand press down in the futon near his arm so she could lean down and whisper in his ear, "_Oyasuminasai,_ Ryū-kun."

Ryūken thought that would be it but then she pressed a kiss to his forehead while gentle fingers plucked his glassed off, folded them and placed them by the dormant lantern before quietly leaving the room through the _shoji_ door.


	13. Mistress of the Palace

**A/N - **_ouji - _prince, _Jaa ne - _super informal farewell.

* * *

Mistress of the Palace

Kisuke often wondered what others dreamt about-when it wasn't so peculiar an occurrence (in the World of the Living for example)-since his were so elaborate. Mostly because it was still an unanswerable curiosity for him how he could walk all night through thick jungle, or polished palace corridors and still wake up refreshed. Were all dreams as intense and detailed?

The locked doors that had frustrated him in last night's dreams were still firmly closed. Kisuke made his way through each hallway and door off that first room he'd come to again, his gaze wandering occasionally to where the wall and floors met with jungle.

After exhausting each corridor and doorway he started collecting pillows off the furniture he passed (amazed at the myriad types of upholstery; silks, more than one wild fur) and piling them together in the main room. He only called it that because it was where the jungle met the marble dream palace, and he found himself returning there after each failure. He finally stopped scouring the available rooms for pillows and flopped down into a pile that easily rivaled Kūkaku's.

Part of him wanted to take off into the jungle again just for something to do, but it had proven itself endless and with no landmarks to speak of...except for this palace. He buried himself into the pillows in an effort to get comfortable, and perhaps distract his curiosity.

As he lay there staring up at the elaborately carved ceiling he could see from under the pillows his mind suddenly recalled that Yoruichi dreamt about a palace as well. She had mentioned coming upon an unused passage she was too large to fit through, and it had led to her shape shifting in her dreams...

Kisuke wasn't sure if he had gained better control, or if things were different in dreams, but when he concentrated on his spiritual energy it came gently and quickly. He was happy not to be overwhelmed even as the power swelled and erupted out past his skin.

He looked down at the soft red glow of _reiatsu_ that pulsed out from his skin. What to turn into? Yoruichi had mentioned focusing on being smaller...Maybe the smaller shape the easier it was?

_Cat, _he thought squeezing his eyes closed for several minutes_._

When he opened his eyes to peer at his hand again the glow of his spiritual pressure was brighter, the aura extending out further like a cloud around him, but it was still a hand. He pictured himself as a cat; maybe a soft brown tabby cat...Was he doing it wrong-?

"What are you doing?"

Abruptly Kisuke found himself surrounded, the air around him heavy and hard to take in. He gasped and tumbled out of the pillows in a panic Kisuke landed in an undignified sprawl, pillows scattering on the polished floor. He shot to his feet and spun toward the voice, toward the encroaching jungle, but there was no one there. As he took a slow, deep breath and found the air as easy to draw in as usual he quickly took in his surroundings. All the doors were still closed.

Bare feet slapping loudly across the marble Kisuke ran into the jungle, casting his _reiatsu_ out in front of him like sniffing hounds.

**_Oujisama? _**Echoed in his head in a deep, sultry female voice, bringing him up short. He easily knew the difference between them the first being an aural voice and the second a telepathic one. It was the same person but as she called to him telepathically it tripped something in his memories.

It was more than the running that had Kisuke's heart hammering as he hurried back toward the structure. As he moved through the foliage he caught sight of the mound of pillows and came to an abrupt stop.

Reclining in the pile, as if he'd made it **for** her, was a woman with skin as dark as Yoruichi's, the outside of it swathed in gently rolling red _reiatsu_. Her hair was much longer-probably brushed the floor-unbound, wild and was a blood red so deep it reminded him of the life's blood he couldn't seem to stop seeing when he used his second sight.

Even though she had thrown one of the dream palace's fur blankets-red and black tiger-stripes-over her Kisuke still noticed what **was** showing didn't looked very clothed. The only real accoutrement were the tiny gold hoop piercings that ran along the curve of her eyebrow and along the edge of the ear on the same side.

"So you finally made it in from the jungle?"

Kisuke moved a few steps closer, his gaze just as intense as when he'd looked upon Yoruichi's human face for the first time. Just as he'd tried to make connections between the human and feline faces, he tried to connect the woman's face to the memories that had shivered at her voice. "I know you," He heard the words spill out but there was no visual recognition. "Your voice..."

Red, red lips curved into a wicked smirk. "You have heard my voice before?"

The shock and delight in the stranger's tone brought him up short again. "I don't remember when."

"Oh," Her beautiful face fell, the arch of gold hoops an accent to her expressions. "You remember your death."

"What?" Kisuke winced as his knees suddenly met unforgiving marble when his legs unexpectedly failed him. "I...M-my death?" He was pretty sure he'd remember something like that if he could.

The woman's eyes (from here they looked black) seemed to reconsider Kisuke as he trembled. "You..?" She hesitated and the blanket wrapped around her more securely as she moved to her feet. "Do you know my name?"

Kisuke stared up at the woman as she moved closer; there was a simplicity to her movements that reminded him of Yoruichi, feline Yoruichi (he hadn't seen the human version move enough). As she moved closer he felt that same thickening to the air and he met her gaze, "If you already told me I don't remember."

At his admission she smiled softly with a knowing nod. "I haven't told you before." She watched the boy gasp, his breathing coming in a strangled sound as she lowered down to kneel in front of him, her free hand reaching out to touch his narrow shoulder. She felt the hot burn of his _reiatsu_ under her fingers, trying to push out-to shield him-so he could breathe in the face of her massive spiritual pressure. "My name is-"

His eyes rolled up in his head as his breath stuck in his lungs like sand for a moment and he felt on the verge of fainting from the struggle of inhaling. The moment of suffocation passed and he forced his eyes open to stare up at her to find her crisp red eyes full of concern. "W-what?" He asked bewildered.

Somehow she seemed to expect his reply. Her smile curled up a little on one side, popping a sharp-looking canine out unintentionally. "I am-" She tried again, watching as the child gasped, his _reiatsu_ intense and violent, but not enough to keep her attention from crushing him.

"I can't...hear...you..." Kisuke grumbled confused and she only nodded in understanding. "My name is Urahara Kisuke."

"I know your name, _Oujisama_," She shook her head with a small tsk of her tongue her red hair coming around her like a curtain as she stood and moved away. "If you cannot even hear my name you have found your way to me much too soon."

"Too soon?" Kisuke moved to follow her, encouraged when the mysterious pressure that had plagued him since she had appeared lifted, even as she started to leave the palace. "Where are you going?"

"I'll tell you when you can hear my name..." She moved gracefully from the marble to the soft earth. "Or when you can catch me."

"Catch you?" Kisuke's eyes went wide as the blanket slipped off her shoulders, exposing sharp shoulder blades.

Right before he could start forward there was that sensation in the air again and she disappeared in _shunpo_. He gasped in realization as he used both his second sight and _reiatsu_ to seek the woman out, his feet carrying him as fast as he could. Like he had guessed in regards to Ukitake-_taichō's_ _reiatsu_, this woman's unchecked was large enough to press down on him physically.

With a startled yelp his feet tangled and he fell on his face. He kicked his feet brutally, sending the discarded blanket flying.

**_You are hopeless Oujisama,_ **echoed in his mind and Kisuke rolled to his feet to chase after the glowing red trail of the woman. Like the feline shape of the other night's dream...

Bravely he hurried after her, his courage bolstered as he glanced back to see his own trail (was it dreams that made _reiatsu_ red?).

As he chased he recalled again Yoruichi learning shape-shifting from her dreams. Surely if she could learn something he could..._Oh, no..._

**_Jaa ne, Oujisama._**

When insistent hands continued to shake him awake Kisuke's eyes snapped open. He looked up to meet Ryūken's brown gaze, strange for some reason..._Ah, no glasses!_

"I need to learn how to _shunpo_!"


	14. Lessons

**A/N** - So, so sorry for the unscheduled hiatus from this FF. There is at least two more chapters waiting to be typed up so there shouldn't be so big a wait for fifteen. For those of you waiting for Empty House Days, know that it is in the same boat...with a chapter waiting to be typed up, so just be patient a little while longer please. And apologies again. One translation I almost forgot about is _Kenchikuka - _architect.

* * *

Lessons

Kūkaku had missed the signs yesterday, but in the light of the morning with one of Koganehiko's omelets her reserves were full, powers of observation fully functional. She moved into the large room that had only moments ago been a dining room, now it was a big empty space. This morning she took note of where Ryūken was sitting near the wall what had to have been his third tea of the morning cupped in both hands, noticing just how much he was trying not to stare at Yoruichi and Kisuke. "I don't know where she found that one."

Ryūken looked up from his morning tea, trying his best not to react outwardly to her words, feinting ignorance. "What's that?"

"Ichi-chan...she collects odd people. You are a prime example," Kūkaku sat next to the Quincy where he reclined his eyes flickering over to Yoruichi and Kisuke as they engaged in what they'd titled "_Shunp_o practice."

The Quincy couldn't think those words without rolling his eyes, because this practice consisted of Yoruichi trying to teach _shunpo_ while in her human form - still too big for her _reiatsu_ level - to Kisuke who didn't even understand the concept.

"Hara-chan too," Kūkaku added, then turned to shout distracting the dirty blond as he tried to understand Yoruichi's explaination. "Just don't touch the ground!"

"_Domo_!" Kisuke made a silly face at Kūkaku before he gave her a small bow.

Ryūken had only agreed to let Yoruichi try to teach something she'd probably been born able to do because the princess had managed to convince him. Knowing he'd want to focus on _reiatsu_ sensing and control Yoruichi had started out with the argument that their pupil had no problem sensing it. With that small opening in his fledgling training schedule both she and Kisuke jumped at the opportunity, with a promise to only practice as long as it took Ryūken to enjoy his morning tea (then proceeded to force the whole pot down his throat in a bid for more time).

"What are you suggesting?" Kisuke called, missing it when Yoruichi's golden eyes rolled at Kūkaku's advice.

"Take a step, and right before your foot lands..." Kūkaku saw him lean toward her his eyebrows lifting, eyes bright and curious. "Don't let it land."

"Don't listen to her," Ryūken ordered with an exasperated sigh.

"Yes," Yoruichi agreed with the Quincy.

"Ichi-chan can you even _shunpo_ as a human?" Kūkaku guessed.

Ryūken was startled when Yoruichi suddenly turned a glare at him. "What?" He asked about the accusatory look.

A cackle brought everyone's attention back to Kūkaku, "I only guessed! Thanks for confirmation Ichi-chan! You must know your beloved would never betray you even under threat of torture."

Kisuke gave a startled yelp as he suddenly found himself across the room and barreling right into Yoruichi. He made sure not to land on her, but even as he managed to twist around and take the brunt of the fall she ended up in his arms.

"How did you…?" When he looked up Ryūken was already there to help them up. He had been trying to do what Yoruichi had said, focusing on letting his _reiatsu_-much faster than him-move him instead. Then Kūkaku had called Ryūken that word and he...

"I-I don't know I just...Didn't let my foot land."

Another raucous cackle and Kūkaku scooted close enough to hug Kisuke until he couldn't breath. "Didn't I tell you!" She gave him a kiss on his cheek, which very quickly went scarlet.

"That actually was quite seamless. I could hardly sense a raise in your _reiatsu_ throughout," Ryūken subconsciously comforted Yoruichi, an arm around her.

Both the princess and Kisuke noticed.

Kisuke gave Kūkaku a return squeeze of his arms. "You distracted me from completing my step."

"But not your _reiatsu_, good focus," Yoruichi put an arm around Ryūken before he noticed his faux pas.

"Maybe a little mediation and focus on your _reiatsu_ would help," Ryūken offered. "Getting it collected and under your control helps with everything else."

"Everything else?"

"Ryūken and I have a _kata_ to teach you and together we know most of the things new recruits will be asked to do," Yoruichi explained as she finally felt Ryūken's muscles go taut and she wasn't surprised when he stepped away from her.

"Like running?"

"_Hai_," Yoruichi nodded and tried not to notice how close and comfortable Kisuke and Kūkaku seemed the two holding hands to help each other up. "Maybe we should start with that?"

"But the _shunpo -_"

"You can tire yourself out with too much, just like running Hara-chan," Kūkaku found another reason to hug Kisuke as he pulled her a little too hard to her feet, and after a chuckle she finally stopped hugging but she and Kisuke still stood close enough for their arms to brush. "Instead of boring ol' running why don't we let Hara-chan and Ichi-chan rest and they can watch some sparring."

"And who exactly can they watch spar?" Ryūken moved a hand up to adjust his glasses.

"You and me, obviously."

"But..." Ryūken trailed off before he could finish his objection.

Kisuke, however, didn't do polite. "Kū-chan you've only got one arm!" The boy blurted out.

"Aw, Hara-chan! I lost this long enough ago to have learned how to get along without it," Kūkaku's grin made the boy blush.

"Be careful then," Yoruichi cautioned, earning a look from Ryūken. "Did you wanna fight me instead?" She asked when she saw his expression.

"Maybe I don't want to fight!" As soon as the shout was out the Quincy clamped a hand over his own mouth and went a deeper red than Kisuke.

Kisuke snickered softly at the pale kid blushing. "We should skip the spectator part and just show me how to fight..." He put his arm behind his back and lifted the other to guard his face, fingers curled into a tight fist. "One-handed fighting first!"

The one-armed girl gave her usual cackle, "If we have time."

Ryūken surprised Kisuke by covering his fist with his hand, their eyes met over their knuckles, "Fists are for barroom brawls...which if you should find yourself in don't..." He gently peeled apart Kisuke's clenched fingers. "Put your thumb under your other fingers."

"How do I hold my hands?"

"Open in case you need to block or grab," Yoruichi held hands up as if to fight, defending her face.

"However you want. Different _hakudo _- fighting styles - focus on various ways to defend and attack," Ryūken explained. "If you weren't just defending your face you might just keep one up and the other could hang loose and ready at your side, or out to balance your other appendages."

As Ryūken pulled away from Kisuke and turned to gesture toward Yoruichi she lowered down into a crouch, one hand hovering a few inches over the _tatami_ mats palm down fingers splayed, the other pulled back her gently curled fingers guarding her face. She kind of looked like a cat getting ready to pounce. It had its strengths and weaknesses but Kisuke was sure Yoruichi was aware and ready to shore-up each of them.

Sure enough Ryūken went for an obvious one and her hand swung around to catch his wrist. She'd looked like she was resting her weight on both feet but as soon as she captured Ryūken's hand her back leg arched over her back like the striking tail of a scorpion but Ryūken spun into her, sending them both sprawling over the mats. Ryūken kept rolling until he was on his feet but Yoruichi looked like she'd knocked her head too hard, and was still trying to gain her wits back.

"Ichi-chan!" Kūkaku was closer than Kisuke and as she moved to lean over the princess Yoruichi unexpectedly swung an elbow out and up aiming for the girl's face. By the time the blow snapped out Ryūken had already yanked Kūkaku out of harms way.

"She likes to play wounded," Ryūken described. "She's very convincing, _reiatsu_ and everything."

Yoruichi did a graceful flip to her feet, none the worse for wear and moved in making Ryūken turn away to dodge a roundhouse and Kūkaku tried to capitalize on it. The younger girl ended up hip-tossed to the mats and then ignored as Ryūken came back up from dealing with Kūkaku with a palmheel to Yoruichi's face which was dodged.

At this moment Kisuke finally noticed, "You're all going really slow."

Slow for a fight, more like a dance at half-tempo. Yoruichi gave Kisuke a grin that made him blush for some reason. "Ryūken doesn't like to allow any possible swing to hit hard."

"You have to go through slow to learn. The _sensei_ go cadet by cadet until each one knows the _kata_, then they do drills together," Yoruichi explained, a bright smile on her face. "I know it and so does Ryūken."

"So it'll be weird if I don't already know?"

"No...we'll be the weird ones," Ryūken frowned at that thought. "Speaking of...name yet?"

Yoruichi and Kūkaku went through a complex series of blocks, palmheels, elbows, and swipes before the Shiba's amazing one-armed blocks missed an attack and Yoruichi flicked the tip of her nose with her fingertip sending her into a fit of maniacal cackling. "I thought it might be easier if I were related to one of you." Yoruichi explained her thoughts on name choices. "Only Kentetsu-_jiji_ should know it's me."

"Ishida?" Kisuke suggested since the two lived in the palace together, knew each other better. He watched with a grin as Kūkaku laughed and rolled on the ground, took Yoruichi by surprise with a foot sweep and she went down.

Before Kūkaku could capitalize with a downward kick Ryūken was between them blocking. He caught Kūkaku's foot and she tried to hop backwards out of his grasp but he followed his fingers tight on her ankle. "I'm not using it. You really shouldn't either," Ryūken frowned as he caught sight of the bright curiosity his words ignited in Kisuke's eyes and he focused half his attention on how to distract him from asking the even more disconcertingly personal questions that were clamoring to gain use of his tongue.

"You have to have a surname. They'll just assign you the district a cadet grows up in-oof!," Kūkaku did a painful-looking twist of her torso, throwing herself to the ground catching herself with one arm and giving her free foot momentum to swing upward for Ryūken's ribs.

Yoruichi grinned as she stayed where she'd landed watching the two interact in a much quicker fight. "She's right. How'd you know that Kū-chan?"

Ryūken did a short _hirenkyaku_ out of the way leaving the rest of Kūkaku's body to fall to the mats, but she merely rolled and jumped to her feet. "That's how they do it at the academy."

As Kūkaku _shunpoed_ into Ryūken he quickly dodged her tackle and managed to guide her into a painful hip-toss that put her on her back on the mats looking up at the ceiling stunned. Ryūken held a hand out to help her up, "We'll all be Uraharas then."

With a grimace at Ryūken Kūkaku merely rolled into a sitting position next to Yoruichi. When she ignored his attempt to help he crossed his arms over his chest and barely contained the frown, well barely contained it for the single person in the room that didn't know his minute facial ticks.

Blushing Kisuke met the Quincy's gaze, "W-why me?"

"Better than just picking a random _Rukongai_ district," Ryūken said with a shrug.

"Urahara. Heh I like it," Yoruichi nodded.

"I can show you how to write it..." Kisuke suggested.

Kūkaku was now close enough to throw her arm over Kisuke's shoulders, "Honestly how did a brat like you get so smart?"

"Questions obviously," Ryūken moved to grab Kisuke's hand to pull him to his feet. "Who wouldn't be a genius asking so many?"

"_Domo arigatō_!" Kisuke gave the Quincy half a hug as he got to his feet. "Now what are we doing?"

_Very good question - damn it._ Ryūken floundered a moment as he watched Kisuke help Kūkaku to her feet. He'd easily noticed Kūkaku's touchy-feely behavior with Kisuke. What he should really be thinking was the answer to why he might have felt the need to separate them as soon as possible? Kūkaku had always set a bad example as far as formality went...and Yoruichi shouldn't observe her behavior thinking it was proper. So he'd wanted them to stay separated because of Yoruichi, but not for obvious emotional reasons.

"Let's see how far you can run!" Kūkaku challenged Kisuke, quickly moving to the door that lead out into the hall. "Ooh!" She stopped so abruptly that Kisuke ploughed right into her, sending them both half-way through the _shoji_ door.

"_Gomen_!" Kisuke scrambled to his feet and helped Kūkaku to hers. Far from hurt the girl cackled and turned to climb out through the decent-sized hole in the parchment.

"Kūku-chan!" Ryūken called in a scolding tone, his questionable behavior concerning Kūkaku and Kisuke's familiarity forgotten for a moment.

"It's just a door," Kūkaku pushed the door open and grabbed Kisuke's hand. "Hurry up Hara-chan. Oh! Can you climb?"

Ryūken jumped when Yoruichi's fingers firmly snagged his. He met her glowing golden eyes and wondered, "What's that look on your face for?"

Yoruichi answered with a shake of her head, her smile only growing wider before she led him by the hand to follow Kūkaku and Kisuke. She didn't just know secrets because she could hide and eavesdrop as a cat; she was just as observant as either of the blonds. "What else should we do, but be jealous?"

Staring at his pale fingers entwined with her dark ones, Ryūken missed her question. "Hm?"

"What else should we do?" Yoruichi amended, stifling a small chuckle as the Quincy blushed at their close proximity. "Kū-chan's right, we gotta see if he can climb."

"And swim," Ryūken frowned as he realized he wasn't a very good influence on Yoruichi either. "The _katas _are most important."

"He's smart, he can get them down easily," Yoruichi squeezed Ryūken's fingers as he tried to remove them from her grip. "Wouldn't you agree Ryū-kun?"

"He's reasonably intelligent," Ryūken's gaze darted up to see that odd grin on her face again. "There's that **look** again."

Yoruichi gave a heavy sigh, "Only because of the look on yours."

"Mine?"

"You don't like Kū-chan," Yoruichi slowed them until they were standing still, the others already upstairs in the _shōten_.

"What? No, I already told you-"

"Sshh!" Yoruichi turned and took the hand she'd captured in both of hers. "You don't! Just like me. You don't like her huggin' on him either."

"W-w…" Ryūken met dancing yellow eyes. "She **just** met him."

"Exactly!" Yoruichi nodded - as if she had the same hang-ups about honorifics - then turned to lead him up the stairs.

"_Tch_," Ryūken came to a halt each foot on a different stair, making Yoruichi stop. "I'm not jealous. I-I saw that it hurt your feelings and..."

Yoruichi turned on the stair ahead of him, making her taller, but she only stood there and stared down into his brown eyes.

"Yūk-kun!" Kūkaku cackled as she threw the tapestry up and ducked her head in underneath it. "You two gonna play kissy faces all day? I thought we were discovering the merits of a warrior in Hara-chan!"

"Kū-chan!" Kisuke called in sing-song.

"If you take long enough I'll have to get directions again," Kūkaku joked as she came down the stairs a little. "C'mon Ichi-chan!"

"Where are you dragging us?" Yoruichi turned to the girl.

"ShibaPalace of course," Kūkaku peered over the princess to see their joined hands. "It's nearer to the Central 46." She gave Yoruichi's arm a tug and when she released one hand from Ryūken's she found herself hauled up the stairs by it, the other wrenched free.

"Kū-chan!" Yoruichi almost dripped at the topmost stair but Ryūken was quick enough to _hirenkyaku_ after and catch her.

By the bright, curious look on Kisuke's face, he'd just been told of the infamous wandering Shiba underground palace.

"Are you going to run with us Kū-chan?" Yoruichi asked, knowing she would have to show off to be able to join the guard.

"How else will you find your way?" Kūkaku rolled her bright eyes. "Lemme stretch first!"

Ryūken nodded in approval and started to stretch a bit too since he hadn't been involved in the "_shunpo_ lessons." He did different stretches and was happy to see that Kisuke was watching, eyes alert as he tried to mimic the Quincy's moves (if he hadn't stretched that muscle earlier with Yoruichi).

Yoruichi watched with a grin. "Kisuke-kun," She held her hand up, palm-down at shoulder height. "Can you kick my hand?"

Since he'd been in the midst of a leg stretch Kisuke had to straighten to see what Yoruichi was talking about. "Maybe," He turned and after a moment to find his balance he managed to nudge Yoruichi's hand with his toe.

"Good start," Ryūken commented and that earned him a surprised look from Kisuke. "Can you do the splits?"

"Huh?"

Yoruichi lifted her hand as high as she could, earning a skeptical look from the barefoot boy. "I can kick this high," She revealed.

"That's higher than your head!" Kisuke glanced over and Ryūken surprised him by stepping forward, his foot seemingly independent from his leg. He kicked so high his foot went higher than Yoruichi's hand and so high his knee was pressed into his torso. "Whoa!"

Ryūken lowered his leg and slowly lowered into what Kisuke now knew was an apt description for splits one leg stretched forward the other back. "How…" Yoruichi did the same, except her legs went out to either side. "Can we get to the running part now?" Kisuke asked with a grimace.

"We'll see how far you can go later," Kūkaku cackled and didn't give any warning before she took off running.

Ryūken watched after her with a sigh. "Wait a moment I want to sprint at the beginning."

Yoruichi nodded and lowered into a runner's stance right next to Ryūken, who mirrored her. "When Ryū-kun says 'Go!' Run as fast as you can to Kū-chan."

Kisuke grinned; his blond head nodding as he hurried to stand on Ryūken's other side, adopting their stance. He braced his bare feet on the ground, his eyes riveted to Kūkaku as she disappeared around a corner.

"Oi! Wait!" Yoruichi moved back to the _shōten_ door to deposit her shoes before taking her spot again. "Ready Ryū-kun."

"All right, to Kūku-chan ready?"

"_Hai_," Yoruichi and Kisuke echoed.

"Go!"

The three of them took off for the corner, neither taking any real lead. Even at the end, when each of them let go of the tiny bit they'd been holding back, none of them could say who had won. Too close.

"You guys coming?" Kūkaku shouted only to be surprised as they caught up to her a few seconds later.

"Lead the way Kū-chan!" Kisuke cheered, hardly winded by the race, or current running.

They kept moving inward, through numerous alleyways, toward the center of the _Seireitei_. As they got closer they had to slow down for Kūkaku to get her bearings.

Although he'd noticed it in the distance, Kisuke's curiosity for the high central spire hadn't really been any hotter than his curiosity for **everything** in the _Seireitei_. Now was a moment to gain a chunk of information on the map he had in his head.

And it was from this angle that he first saw the jutting bit of land near the top. "What's what?" He was able to breathe out slowly.

"_Sōkyoku_ Hill," Kūkaku panted as she stopped at the mouth to another alley. "We can go there later if ya want."

"No we can't," Yoruichi growled suddenly and as they joined Kūkaku she cackled right back.

"I go up there all the time," Kūkaku countered. "Well…not up to the top…that's where the greatest weapon the _Sōkyoku_ is kept, it's used to execute people with high spiritual pressure, _shinigami_ mostly."

"The _Onmitsukidō _patrol more heavily there than anywhere," Yoruichi explained.

"I'm not doing anything wrong! I'm a noble, I live in the _Seireitei_," Kūkaku turned away from the cliff to lead them down a smaller alley. "And everyone knows _Onmitsukidō _protects Shihōin palace."

"They don't patrol it any more than any other section," Yoruichi argued.

"Two of the _gundanchō _spend more time there teaching than in the barracks."

The entrance was small, nondescript as if its objective was to be very uninteresting. Unlike the bright _shōten_ front, this had no markings and the room inside small and bare but for a part of the wall that opened like a _shoji_ door at the touch of Kūkaku's hand.

Kisuke was momentarily distracted by that bit of trickery. "How'd you do that?"

"Hm, gotta ask _Otousan _about that, he's the architect."

"Architect?"

"The people that decide what buildings look like, although to call Shiba-sama an architect seems a bit of an understatement, ne?" Ryūken asked as they started down a set of wide stairs very similar to the _shōten's_.

"He likes people to call him '_Kenchikuka_,' more than 'Shiba-sama'," Kūkaku said in a conspiratory whisper. "And I'm sure he wouldn't mind Architect-sama."

The hall at the bottom of the stairs was considerably larger than the _shōten's_ and it kept going. Kisuke stared, his mouth open with too many questions tying his tongue to get any out.

Kūkaku only laughed and led them down the hall as it turned right and went on for a few more doors before ending in another staircase down.

She had explained to Kisuke before setting off that her parents' lifestyles necessitated moving the palace all over _Seireitei_. According to Kūkaku her mother also really liked things that way, especially since neither of her parents were really the social type (at least in noble circles).

For Kisuke it had seemed almost impossible (knowing the size of the Shihōin palace) for the girl's words to be true. Now that he was descending a second staircase the blond was doubly (triply!) sure Kūkaku had to be lying about the whole thing…

"You're frowning awfully hard there Kisuke," Yoruichi whispered as Ryūken was ambushed by what looked like a small brown boar with the brightest pink bow in existence.

Kūkaku tried not to laugh, shouting her brother's name a split second before she was ambushed from behind from the child. Ganju then jumped to his feet and sang a triumphant song about getting the drop on his sister.

"You to-otally cheated!" Kūkaku swatted him in the head. "That doesn't count!"

"_Otousan_!" Ganju wailed and ran down the hallway with the boar and Kūkaku chasing after.

Yoruichi moved to help Ryūken to his feet as Kisuke retrieved his glasses from where they'd landed. "You all right?"

Ryūken only nodded, dusting off his clothes as Kisuke gently pushed his glasses back on his face.

"Only your dignity right?" Yoruichi chuckled as the Quincy nodded with a small blush. By mutual silent agreement the three moved to follow Kūkaku.

"How can the palace move like Kū-chan says?" Kisuke found himself murmuring as they turned down the right fork in a junction of hallways, following the sound of shouting and name calling.

"Shameless," Ryūken sighed with a shake of his head as Kūkaku went off into a song, one in which she loudly claimed to have written for her little brother, who was in truth adopted from wild pigs.

"You should ask _Kenchikuka_, they just moved so he should still be unpacking," Yoruichi suggested. "I could try and explain but Kū-chan had to dumb it down for me to grasp the concept," She glanced at Ryūken who blushed deeper and found a reason to turn away from her face only to catch sight of Kisuke's whose grin somehow mirrored Yoruichi's at her most mischievous. Plus curiosity bright and burning.

"And you brought guests!" A deep voice boomed and both Ganju and the boar high-tailed it through a set of nearby _shoji_ doors. They passed the three and vanished around a corner.

The frown on Kūkaku's face was the first Kisuke had seen on the girl, and without thinking he hugged her. Sometimes he wondered if all the social formalities Ryūken harped about really meant anything.

Besides to the Quincy obviously.

"Don't you encourage her boy!" The deep voice called and a small screen just inside the door slid aside to show the lit room beyond.

The man behind the screen - _Kenchikuka_? – had once had black hair but now there was only it's hint in a deep grey, dark eyes and lots of wrinkles, but only around his eyes (as if he read small print often) the rest was unblemished. "Shiba-sama?" Kisuke pulled away from Kūkaku with a bow of his head.

"I don't like that look on her face either," He hid his mouth with his hand as he leaned in and said in sotto voce. "She looks like my wife."

"_Otousan_!" Kūkaku quickly introduced the visitors including a random fact for each of them. There was Kisuke "as curious as a cat", Yoruichi "who also has feline traits" and Ryūken "whose face always looks like that, sorry."

"I'm so glad you decided to play with Kū maybe she won't spend so much time at the _shōten_ trying to grow up," _Kenchikuka_ waved them forward into the room.


	15. The Shiba Clan

**A/N - **That wasn't **to **long a wait ne? Just one mention in the translation department _Netsuai - _passionately loved.

* * *

The Shiba Clan

The only table in the room was low to the ground and scattered across its surface were brushes, blocks of ink and even what looked like charcoal in long thin sticks. Taking Kūkaku's lead they gathered loosely around the table, but not as close as _Kenchikuka_ who was bent over a large roll of pristine white paper half-unrolled across the table, curling over the edge and coming to rest on the floor.

"_Sumimasen_, Shiba-dono," A soft voice intruded at the door, behind the screen. "Ganju-sama said you wished tea service?"

"_Hai_!" _Kenchikuka_ gave an absentminded nod, eyes on the paper, training over what looked like squares in very fine black lines.

The servant left as silently as she'd appeared without another word, closing the _shoji_ door.

"_Kenchikuka_," Yoruichi saw the rapt attention Kisuke paid to the blueprints on the table, it was almost as intense as _Kenchikuka's _. "My friend Kisuke-kun -"

"Is curious about the…" He paused and glanced toward the closed _shoji_ door before whispering. "The Shiba's Famous Hidden Palace?"

Kisuke looked around as everyone laughed softly at the architect's phrase (even Ryūken!) and he leaned in as far as he could to peer at the odd drawing of _Kenchikuka's_.

"Who wouldn't be?" Ryūken murmured, face indifferent again but Yoruichi knew the Quincy had yet to hear the secret.

Not that it was all that big a secret, _Kenchikuka_ had no problem explaining his ability, it was just that it was one of those things that sounded simple but was totally impossible to truly explain.

"Come up here and get a proper look before you break your neck Hara-chan," _Kenchikuka_ ordered in a stern voice, indicating the other end of the long cushion he sat on.

Kisuke sighed in relief, purposefully **didn't **look in Ryūken's direction avoiding his disapproving look as he scrambled to sit next to the noble. Eyes scrolling across the fine lines, dotted here and there with an "X" or a small colored-in rectangle.

"Can you tell me what this is?"

"A map of this palace?" Kisuke guessed tentatively.

"Very good!"

"Except…"

"Hm?" _Kenchikuka_'s lifted a dark eyebrow.

"If this is the floor we're on," Kisuke's hand reached over to indicate a small collection of small rectangles which he took to be a representation of the stairs, making sure not to touch the paper. "Then this room is too small and there are more rooms…plus another staircase…" He turned to point at a blank wall behind them. "Over there."

With a chuckle _Kenchikuka_ nodded, a pleased grin on his lips. "That's because I've not finished unpacking."

"That's what Yoru-chan said," Kisuke looked over at the girl to see a similar grin on her face…only on her it seemed strangely reminiscent of the woman from his dream, he swore he didn't imagine the peek of pointed canine either!

"A door and a small hallway aren't all that spectacular so…" He caught his daughter's bright gaze. "Get me a fresh piece of paper Kū?"

Kūkaku gave a vigorous nod and quickly left the room.

"Unpacking is easy," _Kenchikuka_ reached for a small pile of parchments rolled into scrolls as skinny as Kisuke's smallest finger. "I find the corresponding scroll for the next room."

Kisuke peered at the small white scroll as _Kenchikuka_ carefully broke the red wax seal over the small labeled holder, and unrolled the paper for him to see. It was a larger scale drawing of the next missing room, this version, however, was strewn with small, very intricate drawings inside.

_Kenchikuka _placed the drawing over the smaller rendition before weighing each curled corner down.

Although the noble had kept his _reiatsu_ contained Kisuke found – like in his dream – he could feel _Kenchikuka's_ _reiatsu_ like a prickling pressure on his skin. Thankfully this was a gentle pressure and not aimed directly at anyone.

They watched as _Kenchikuka_ picked up one of the small polished stones from a bowl no one had noticed in his lap and rubbed his hands together like they were cold, back and forth over it. He did the same to three more stones, casually examining each one, picking through the collection although each one was nearly identical in size (small), shape (circular and flat) and color (black).

As soon as he placed the last stone his _reiatsu_ pulsed, and the stones seemed to echo with a dull yellow light from within. While they looked on transfixed at the stones _Kenchikuka_ started tracing the lines with the finest brush any of them had ever seen.

Kisuke leaned over the edge of the table to watch the black ink glisten in the lantern light. As the last line was retraced the prickle momentarily became sharp needles and the fresh shiny black ink pulsed with the same yellow light.

"Now the door," _Kenchikuka_ gently painted over the small rectangle.

Instead of watching the sure hands of the architect Kisuke's eyes flashed up to the blank wall.

"It doesn't work when you're looking," Yoruichi chided, as if she herself had heard the rebuke plenty.

It was enough to distract the boy and in the moment he looked away to meet those golden eyes the noble's _reiatsu_ stabbed like needles again. When he jerked his eyes back to the blank wall there was a small _shoji_ door in it. "You distracted me!" Kisuke whined and Yoruichi only laughed softly.

"She's right Hara-chan," Kūkaku's voice came out from behind the screen.

"I'm done for the moment Kū," _Kenchikuka_ announced and the _shoji_ door opened before Kūkaku came in with a short but thick roll of paper, this not nearly as pristine a white as that on the table. "Very good!"

The new roll of paper was large enough that Kūkaku stood the cylinder on its end before moving to sit.

Right behind her was a trio of servants, one with a tray of tea, the next a tray of sweet rolls and the last with another table for all of it, since _Kenchikuka's_ was full. Everyone was served before the three girls left.

While they were distracted Kisuke got up and moved for the new door. The room inside was dark, and a beautiful bamboo scroll hung on the wall on which an odd poem had been inked with a rainfall of thousands of plum blossom petals, above and to the left black gnarled branches were "reaching after their colors" as the poem bemoaned. Kisuke squinted in the little light that made it from the other room.

The door hadn't been there before; his eyes **had** to be playing tricks on him. He was joined by Ryūken who was adjusting his glasses as if they weren't doing their job properly.

"Yoru-chan told me he packed and unpacked his whole palace but I-I…" His eyes scanned the inside.

"How!" Kisuke spun to find everyone looking their direction, tea and cakes distributed. "_Kenchikuka_ could you please…"

"Both of you come back over here," _Kenchikuka_ chided. "All of you move a bit closer if you can't see."

All the kids bunched cautiously around the table so they wouldn't disrupt the delicate set-up of the architect. "_Netsuai_ and I worked on it together in secret for decades in scrubby hovels in _Rukongai_," _Kenchikuka_ lifted one of the unused ink blocks, holding it out to Kisuke. "No _reiatsu_ please."

Kisuke nodded and focused on the black block in his hand. He couldn't control it, once he started thinking **about **his _reiatsu_ it answered. He hoped Ryūken would show him how to hide it as well as him…**at all** really.

"Not only the _reishi_ of the ingredients of ink, but both mine and hers with an intent to make a happy home out of nothing," _Kenchikuka_ handed him a different block, also unused in what looked like a muddy brown color.

With a glance at the neatly arranged, misshapen (out of use) blocks on the table Kisuke figured the ones he was examining at the moment were destined to be used next once the others were all used up. He could hardly tell there was a difference in the dark colors since the lines on the paper were so delicate. After a moment he found the larger-scale drawing of _Kenchikuka's_ newest room had a brown rectangle to symbolize the door.

Just as Kisuke noticed _Kenchikuka_ rolled the stones loose to let the paper curl as it wont. "What?"

"A _kidō_?"

_Kenchikuka's _eyes were bright with excitement; the two boys were just as sharp as his cubs. "Not exactly, but that's the closest thing to it. We'll say yes, so you can get an idea of what I'm talking about."

"The paper too?" Kisuke watched the small paper get rolled into a tight scroll and sealed closed once more, this time the Shiba symbol was pressed into a murky black wax.

"_Hai_ Hara-chan, so smart," _Kenchikuka_ nodded and the scroll joined a stack of similarly sealed scrolls in a large metal container painted like the front of the _shōten_, vibrant and possessive. A Shiba Box if the strange _reiatsu_ it possessed echoing the architect was any indicator.

"My spiritual energy alone couldn't make such a grand palace, and I definitely couldn't take both the rooms and all the cherished belongings we've gathered inside them over the centuries alone," _Kenchikuka_ pated the basket fondly.

"So my _Okaasan_ helps, she's the one that really takes the _reishi_ and makes the inks, paper, brushes," Kūkaku explained with a smile, holding her hand out to Ryūken to accept the ink block he was currently peering avid at, as if he could read secrets on it. "Even if you figure out the incantation there's so much more to it…And only the _reiatsu_ used to make it can use it."

"What happens when _reiatsu_ from a different person touches it?" Ryūken looked at his dark smudged fingers.

"Ruins the charge of _reiatsu_ in the ink. The paper – this paper especially – will soak it up, it's made to hold things so…"

"Especially this paper?" Ryuken adjusted his glasses as he peered at the roll of paper near him that Kūkaku had brought in.

"This roll is still untreated with my spiritual pressure," _Kenchikuka_ reached over and unrolled a small bit of paper. "I like to do it a piece at a time since I don't use it very often…Unless I'm making new rooms."

"And he only makes 'em to show off," Kūkaku teased and her father laughed with a nod.

"So true. Oh and I also do it when I'm trying to teach at least one of my cubs the skill," _Kenchikuka_ countered and Kūkaku stuck her tongue out at him. She was close enough that he reached out and tousled her unruly black hair in retaliation.

"I can handle the _reiatsu_ part!" She mumbled as she lowered her eyes to the floor.

"Huh?" Yoruichi poked her with a gentle elbow.

"I can't draw."

As they spoke _Kenchikuka's _spiritual pressure grew, impressive but still only a fraction as he pressed the paper between his hands. The quality of white seemed to be acquired with the treatment of another's _reiatsu_.

Kisuke didn't want to attempt to sense the intent of the _reiatsu_ already in the paper and whatever _Kenchikuka_ was putting into it as they watched. Well he **wanted** to but for once thought first and realized how dangerous it could be.

The idea of being capable of so much, only limited by the intent you could muster up, had Kisuke's _reiatsu_ bubbling with excitement past it's boundaries. "So-so you draw with special ink, on special paper…" He prompted eagerly and _Kenchikuka_ laughed, not only at the boy's exuberant words but by the other three sets of equally bright curious eyes leveled on him.

Paper now a pristine shining white, _Kenchikuka_ weighed it down after hand-picking the stones to do so. "Whenever I do a new room I use a different ink…This one…" He indicated with a vague point to the nearby collection. "It ties them together."

"Them?" Ryūken this time.

"The rooms…The spell wouldn't know which order to string them together," _Kenchikuka_ gave his head a shake. "I'm silly. To understand the how you at least need to know the what…"

"That's harder than you'd think," Kūkaku said in a sing-song.

"Well Kū always reprimands me for not asking what **you** think first," _Kenchikuka_ gave each boy a hard stare; expectant.

"Somehow creating a palace out of a few pieces of paper, ink and _reiatsu_," Ryūken murmured in a baffled tone.

"_Hai_," Kisuke agreed, looking back just as expectantly at the older man. "A palace you can pack into the paper and put wherever you please."

_Kenchikuka _(along with everyone else) noticed the play of curiosity on Kisuke's face. "So many questions in that expression Hara-chan!"

"Please _Kenchikuka_ explain and I'll ask if I still have to at the end," Kisuke glanced Yoruichi's way and she was still smiling but her golden eyes were waiting to catch her new friends.

"This paper contains a complex weave of powerful Shiba _reiatsu_ – put in with intent – then a _reiatsu_ tempered brush and ink are put on the paper. The drawing itself is done with a weaving…um…" His mind tried to think of a word, but then remembered, "_Kidō_…spell…"

"Kinda like a binding _kidō_ and inside it, is where the room is!" Kūkaku made a cup with her hands. "Like a pocket of space where size is meaningless."

"Kū…" _Kenchikuka_ chided when her excitement made her words a blur, nevermind their original ability to confuse the other kids no matter their speed.

"That's how you explained it to Ju-chan!" Kūkaku protested.

"Ah, true," _Kenchikuka_ gave a sheepish grin and Ryūken was struck with the sudden morph of features. The expression made him appear an older Kaien, without the startling eye color and much longer hair.

Kisuke looked at the paper, knowing it was the same thickness as regular paper. The change in color had him itching to touch it.

"But you misspoke," _Kenchikuka_ said gently to Kūkaku. "The pocket of sizelessness…" He chuckled and shook his head at the word. "It is not in the paper, this page only contains a gateway to it…To the exact spot where the room is built."

"But.." Kisuke's mind worked at the idea, something begging for attention he could quite place. "Hoh…um…" He looked away from _Kenchikuka_ and down at his hands where they were twisted in his lap to keep them from touching the paper.

"The paper is only a gate to the space," Ryūken murmured softly. "And the room is there."

"How does it get here?" Kisuke blurted out but Ryūken only gave him a barely perceptible smile and nod.

"It doesn't," _Kenchikuka_ picked up one of the stones. "These and the design as a whole," he indicated the larger paper underneath of the entire palace. "Anchor each pocket in a specific order. I can change it a little, when the size of the rooms is similar, and I can swap them the next time I unpack."

"Put the pockets…" Kisuke frowned and this time looked over to Ryūken. _Pockets_?

"Poor Hara-chan," Kūkaku's voice grabbed his attention.

"I've got this ink here," _Kenchikuka_ procured a block about half the size of any of the others, and an obvious bright red color. "And I only use it once or twice." The ink disappeared into a pocket and he leaned over the blueprint to the only entrance into the palace. Instead of a normal brown rectangle the entrance was a red oval.

"Like a _senkaimon_," Ryūken whispered after they had stared a few moments. "That's connecting the regular world to the pocket one."

"_Hai_!" _Kenchikuka_ gave a surprising clap of his hands in the room's stillness. "But we can't really live in complete sizelessness", He went on. "The room can be compressed any size…I would only have to do the one room if it were just a matter of making a portal to **that** space," His finger touched his entry room with the blazing red doorway. "But I unpack it into a different…plane of **this **world…so we wouldn't feel too compressed going inside."

"So it exists but doesn't?"

"Not if you don't go through the front door…" _Kenchikuka_ grinned smugly here.

Kūkaku cackled and teased, "Only one point of entrance to guard."

"A point of entrance you can't see," _Kenchikuka_ gloated.

"_Kenchikuka_!" Yoruichi laughed as the man glared at something obviously in another part of the palace—since it seem he was staring at a wall otherwise. "I thought you two had settled for the Shrieking Fish?"

"We did!"

Kisuke watched the man actually pout and couldn't help but chuckle softly at his childish behavior.

"Kū-chan doesn't want to cook fish!" _Kenchikuka_ whined.

"I like fireworks," Kūkaku sighed wistfully, as if she'd said the words plenty, and her father ignored her every time.

"Kaien went off to be a _shinigami_ and now nobody wants to learn a family trade," _Kenchikuka_ lamented.

"I can't draw," Kūkaku stuck her tongue out at _Kenchikuka_ and left the room with a glower on her face.

"I'll…" Yoruichi started, only to bite her lip and quickly follow the dark-haired girl.

"Yoruichi!" Ryūken called, his own eyes going wide at his informal audacity before leaving only pausing a moment to close the door behind him.

Kisuke hesitated and when _Kenchikuka_ met his gaze he saw the concern in the boy's gaze, but still the bright burning curiosity. "I'll be here for a while, don't worry. Kū's room is over here," He pointed to a room a floor up and on the opposite side of the palace.

"_Domo arigatō_!" Kisuke gave a small bow of his head and went to run after his friends. He used his _reiatsu_ just in case, catching the barest traces of Kūkaku among the older traces of _Kenchikuka_, Ganju and a handful of others he didn't recognize.

The trail went up the nearest stairs and the opposite direction _Kenchikuka_ had indicated the girl's bedroom was. He was okay until any fresh traces were lost at a junction of hallways.

"Hello!" Kisuke called, the empty halls echoing. He started checking rooms for any person that could be of assistance. The tiny lines of _Kenchikuka's_ palace map were still fuzzy in his mind's eye, so he tried going back the way he'd come, still calling out for anyone listening.

"Oi, shut-up!"

Jumping nearly a foot at the snarling command, Kisuke spun in time to see a _shoji_ door slam open, giving an ominous splintering noise. "_Sumimasen_!" He shouted as a horrendous soot-covered shape appeared out of the darkness on the other side of the threshold and made a beeline for the shaking boy.

"Who 'er you!" The raspy voice continued to snarl and growl. Closer now Kisuke saw large roundish goggles over the eyes with a strapped around the head, the lenses obliterated by soot.

"Urahara Kisuke! Friends with Yoruichi-_hime_, Ryūken-kun, and Kūkaku-_hime_!" Kisuke rattled off and his reply was another unintelligible growl and cruel black fingers digging into his upper arm to escort him forcefully back toward the still open _shoji_ door.

"_Sumenmasen_! I was looking for Kū-chan and the others and I got lost I -" He coughed and choked as he found the inside of the room filled with some terrible-smelling vapor, much like the scent of burnt hair and skin.

"Hoh, its Kū-chan now is it?" The door slid back shut, effectively cutting off the bright hall light. The lighting was sporadic, where it shown in the room it was directional and made circles of light on the floor, leaving outside the conical shape too dark to move safely through.

Kisuke mumbled apologies again and again, his gaze trying to stay on the ground now that he had been released to stand just shy of any uncomfortable-looking chair and a patch of light.

"How'd ya get in kid?" The snarl was gone, but the raspy quality made the shape androgynous.

"Kūkaku-_hime_ brought us…Yoruichi-_hime_, Ryūken-kun and me," He remembered something _Kenchikuka_ had said during his teaching monologue. "There's only one way in."

The human shape took most of his attention, but as it moved into a different light, not dimmer, but with a different tone Kisuke noticed what looked like – like a hand on a stick!

"Urahara Kisuke, eh?"

"_H-h-hai,_" As Kisuke stuttered, and gasped like a landed fish as his kidnapper jerked the goggles off. "It's not real," The voice softened and suddenly a cloth dropped over the disembodied hand. "Kisuke!"

With a shake of his head Kisuke looked up as gentle hands guided him onto a large beanbag, which he'd never sat in before. "W-what was that?"

"Reconstituted paper pulp, wooden replica," Recited the voice.

"Does it feel like that?"

"Pretty much."

"Can I touch it?"

A very familiar cackle slipped from the sooty shape and it beckoned him closer. He didn't hesitate (didn't think) and closed the distance. "Careful."

"Of course…" Kisuke watched the cloth get plucked away and could only look a moment at the lifelike replica then his eye skittered to the side to meet blazing aqua eyes, staring right at him with perfect circles of clean skin around where the goggles had been. "It's so lifelike I-I still can't look at it."

"If you could **really **see the inside you'd know it's just a good carving," A wistful sigh. "So far the esthetics are all I **can **do."

"What…" Kisuke turned to look only after turning on his second sight to see the usual pattern of the pores on the skin, but just under the "skin" was nothing, dark and solid. He reached over using curiosity for a shield, pushing back the fear. "It looks exactly like skin my…my eyes treat it like skin not paper or wood."

"I started out making ink and paper, all out of the same _reiatsu_…It wasn't far from there to skin…Like everything here in Soul Society its _reishi_," A small shrug.

"Are you Kū-chan's -"

"Why would you say that?" Snarled out.

"I just…" Kisuke frowned as the hand felt like it was carved from wood, a little rough, not like skin at all.

"Careful I said! It's still drying," A grimy hand reached out to grab a large metal object, two pieces of funny-shaped metal hinged together like a book. "This is my newest cast…been workin' on it for weeks."

Now that he looked harder the indentation in the metal was shaped like a hand. "You're only got this?" he indicated the mold and the fresh hand.

"Huh! A moment ago you were in terrified awe."

"I meant…Where's the rest?" Kisuke could hardly contain the idea that had hit him.

"Grab that model then."

Kisuke grabbed the bottom of the stand instead and followed. There was a door into a room just as badly lit; anything with a spot light here was covered.

This room was free from most of the vapor but the smell stuck. "The hand is the hardest…on inside and the outside."

"Lotsa bones and veins."

"What do you know about veins kid?"

"If you tell me your name _Sensei_-dono," Kisuke made sure to show his honest curiosity as he met those bright eyes.

"_Sensei_-dono will do, if you're so great a friend with my Kūku ask her. Or even Ryūken or Yoruichi."

"Shiba-dono?"

"If you must."

"_Kenchikuka_ told me he made ink and paper with _Netsuai_ in the 'Great Shifting Shiba House!'" Kisuke watched in horror as the snarling angry attitude from the beginning returned at his words.

"It's the fuckin' fish," Came from between surprisingly white clenched teeth.

"Oh."

"I wanted it to be about the science, the fireworks…" Kisuke watched _Sensei_ turn away and throw her body over a small futon. He wished that he wasn't so pleased in appeasing his endless curiosity about himself as he discover that the thick layer of soot didn't impede in his second sight at all. She was coated from head-to-toe it was ridiculous and getting everything dirty.

"We wanted Kūku to choose but she picked…fish…because she can cook with one hand." Her voice came out muffled and petulant and Kisuke ventured closer wondering if she'd mind a hug. They did wonders for Kūkaku. "Go away kid."

"But I -"

"Scram!"

At the shrill command Kisuke spun and made for the door, trying not to trip on anything in the dark. He didn't slow until he was around the corner from the broken door and eerie laboratory, his curiosity whining desperately through him to go back.

_Go back!_

He stopped at a staircase down and looked back the way he'd come. He wanted to tell _Sensei_ about his second sight, surely he could help and then…

"Hara-chan! Are you all right!" Kūkaku suddenly appeared from around a corner. "You've got soot all over the clothes I gave you!" She said, realizing it a moment before she hugged him.

"_Gomenasai_ there was this lady covered in it…I think I either woke her up or interrupted her concentration shouting for you," He moved away from the stairs and toward her. "Are you all right Kū-chan?"

"That's my line!" Kūkaku grabbed his hand and started walking back the way she'd come, Yoruichi and Ryūken were nowhere to be seen. "Did _Okaasan_ yell at you?"

"A little. I deserved it though! I was shouting and…Where are we going?" Kisuke noticed their progress as they barged into someone's bedroom.

"This is Kaien's room, don't worry he lives in the barracks most of the time. We keep his old clothes here, for Ju-kun when he gets older.

The room looked as if someone used it, or the staff (of which Kisuke had seen three) kept the dust from setting. "Are these Kaien's?" He asked plucking at the borrowed clothes.

"Something of Shiroganehiko's," Kūkaku moved to an ornate armoire with drawers in the bottom and hundreds of things hung up in the top half. "I think _oniisan's_ got something simple like that. Do you know how to put on _hakama_?"

"_Hakama_…?"

"Pants like mine," She turned to show off the dark grey pants she presently wore.

"One leg at a time?" Kisuke murmured, pantomiming putting on pants slowly like it might be a trick question.

"Huh, no then," Kūkaku threw a sea green _kosode_ and found a pair of matching pants, with only a drawstring at the waist, simple. "Shoes?" Kūkaku laughed and looked down at her bare feet instead of a half-naked Kisuke.

"I've never worn shoes, are they really necessary? I don't know all the rules here and Ryūken-kun's attitude tells me I'm…a savage," Kisuke turned away and kicked out of the old pants before putting on the new, the long _kosode_ covering most of his body.

"Hara-chan you don't have a _fundoshi_ on?"

"A…" Kisuke finished tying all the _obi_ and turned with a flourish of his hands. "Fancy shoes?"

"No…um," Kūkaku shook her head. "Ask Yūk-kun."

Kisuke nodded and looked down at his feet as Kūkaku closed the armoire. "Your mother calls you Kūku."

"Yeah," Kūkaku grinned pleasured thinking of the love and familiarity of her _okaasan's_ pet name.

"I thought Ryūken called you Kūku-chan to tease you," Kisuke remembered the questions that had arisen when _Sensei_ said the nickname that he had kept silent until now.

"He does. He knows Okaasan owns that name, spoke it first. He hadn't admitted to such, but before today I wouldn't have called us friends," Kūkaku lead him out of the room, taking his hand firmly in hers. "And I know he has a stick up his ass about name honorifics, he sets everyone at his level of respect," She stuck her tongue out and made a face. "High **and **low."

"So he **was **teasing you," Kisuke tried not to frown. "In his own formal way."

"Hey, let's go to _Sōkyoku_ Hill," Kūkaku suddenly suggested, pausing to turn and meet the boy's gaze.

"What about Yoru-chan and -"

"Just you and me..." Kūkaku shook her head with a sigh of resignation and released his hand. "They're a floor down with _Otousan_…Go ahead."

Kisuke watched her move away and cheat by using a secret door, hidden much like the one at the palace entrance. "Wait!" He moved after her as she held the door open for him. "I thought you couldn't go up there."

"You wanna go don't cha? I could tell earlier," Kūkaku closed the door. "Ichi-chan won't take you and Yūk-kun'll do whatever she wants even if he's just as curious."

"I don't want to get anyone in trouble," Kisuke followed her up out into the alleys of _Seireitei_.

"We can _shunpo_ there."


End file.
